Digimon: Sakura Knight
by Count Morningstar
Summary: A sequel to The Crimson Plague and Child of Hope and Light. Two months after the Crimson Plague incident, Suzie is left confused due to dreams of something that may have happened to her during that time. Things take an interesting turn when a new student transfers into Suzie's class and a mysterious knight saves her from an evil Digimon. Rated M for good reason. ON HIATUS.
1. Enter the Crusader

**Introduction:** I've been wanting to do this story quite some time now, and have only just recently refined the idea for it. Originally I was going to wait to get started on it until after I finished this other story I've been working on, but after a stress-filled few days I felt like I needed to get this thing off the ground. I'm going to start by saying that this is going to be a yuri story, so anyone who doesn't like that kind of thing should probably turn back now. The idea for the story came from a scene I did for one of my previous stories, _Digimon: The Crimson Plague_ that at the time was more or less just fan service. At the time I did that scene I realized that when doing an older version of such a young character like Suzie Wong, there's a certain amount of freedom for a writer to decide what that character's older self is like. So with that, here's a story that I'm guessing people will either really like or really hate.

P.S. I apologize for the lame title of this story. I tried to think of something better but was just drawing a blank.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 1: Enter the Crusader

_Seventeen-year-old Suzie Wong found herself lying completely naked on a large bed with white silk sheets, surrounded by a set of white transparent curtains. Her wrists were tied to the headboard with two long red ribbons that seemed to be made of a very strong fabric. Try as she might, she could not pull herself free. Suzie had no memory of how she had ended up in such a compromising position, nor did she recognize her surroundings. All she truly knew at that moment was that she was rather frightened of how vulnerable she was at that moment. Yet at the same time she felt excited._

_After a few moments of pulling against her restraints, Suzie heard the sound of a door opening and the footsteps of someone entering the room. She raised her head and saw a young woman standing before the bed. The young woman in question was a bit older than Suzie was and had long brown hair that went down to the middle of her back and was wearing a red silk robe. Suzie recognized the girl as her friend and fellow Digimon Tamer, Jeri Katou. Jeri was looking at Suzie with a very predatory smile._

_"Oh my. You certainly are a cute little thing." Jeri spoke as she licked her lips. "I'm going to enjoy giving you a taste."_

_The oddity of the situation aside, Suzie could tell that there was something very off about Jeri. Whoever was standing before the bed definitely looked like Jeri, but it was like someone else was using her body. Suzie didn't have much time to figure out what was going on though, because in moments Jeri had shed her robe to reveal her totally naked form. Suzie couldn't help but gaze at the older girl standing before her. Jeri was absolutely breathtaking with her silky white skin and perfect breasts that were neither too big nor too small._

_As Jeri crawled onto the bed, Suzie found that she was completely paralyzed. She no longer tried breaking out of her restraints. In fact she found that she didn't want to. In moments Jeri got on top of Suzie and shoved her tongue into the younger girl's mouth. Suzie's mind was blown by the incredible things Jeri's tongue was doing. After what seemed like several minutes or perhaps even an hour, the two of them broke apart for air and Jeri began sucking on Suzie's neck, causing the younger girl to moan._

_Jeri soon moved from Suzie's neck to her collarbone, lingering there for some time before moving down to her right breast. As Jeri began sucking on Suzie's right breast, her right hand moved up and began kneading the girl's other breast, causing Suzie to moan louder and arch her back. Then after a blissful eternity, Jeri left Suzie's breasts and began leaving a trail of fiery kisses down the length of her stomach. Soon Jeri got down to Suzie's waist. And as Jeri spread Suzie's legs apart the younger girl prepared herself for the incredible pleasure that was about to come._

Suzie's eyes snapped open and she found that she was looking at the ceiling of her own room. As she slowly sat up in her bed, Suzie quickly realized that what she had just experienced was only a dream. Everything in her room was as it was. The walls were still pink and place was lined with the various stuffed animals that she had collected over the years. The only stuffed animal in the room that wasn't actually a stuffed animal was the brown and pink rabbit-like creature with three short horns on its head sleeping in a wicker basket atop one of the tables. That creature was actually Suzie's Digimon partner, Lopmon.

Suzie glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand to find that it was only 5: 52 AM. There was still time for her to get a little more sleep before it was time for her to get to school, but there was little chance of her getting back to sleep after having the dream she just did. She never could. For almost the past two months, Suzie had been having erotic dreams with the same theme of Jeri seducing or having her way with her. The oddest of those dreams took place at Suzie's school festival where she and Jeri had started doing it in front of all their friends, family, and acquaintances. All of who seemed to be greatly enjoying the show she and Jeri were putting on for them.

Giving a sigh of defeat, Suzie got out of bed and decided to go ahead and get ready for school. She went to the bathroom and quickly brushed the shoulder-length hair that she had died neon-pink about two months ago. As soon as she was dressed, she went out to the kitchen to make a quick breakfast for herself and Lopmon. Suzie didn't bother to wait for her father, as she knew he had already left for work. It wasn't long before Lopmon had joined Suzie out in the kitchen, and as the two of them had finished eating they were out the door.

There was very little conversation between Suzie and Lopmon as the walk to school began. Suzie couldn't help but think back to all her odd dreams involving Jeri trying to get into her pants. Try as she might, the pinkette couldn't figure out the reason why she was having all those dreams. All she knew was that they had started not long after a strange incident from two months ago where almost everyone in the city along with several wild Digimon had somehow become vampires. The media had dubbed the incident the Crimson Plague due to the red eyes and thirst for blood that the so-called disease had given its victims. But the true cause of the incident was actually a powerful malevolent Digimon known as Myotismon, and Suzie had been one of many people that had been infected by his power.

Like most of Myotismon's victims, Suzie had no memory of anything that happened during or shortly before her time her time as part of his vampire army. But right after the incident, Suzie couldn't help but feel awkward around Jeri. The awkwardness had lessened a bit as time passed, though there were moments when Suzie would blush when she saw Jeri in outfits that many would consider sexy. Though such an occurrence was quite rare. Still, Suzie couldn't help but think that something must've happened during her time as a vampire to make her feel that way around Jeri and caused her to have so many weird dreams.

"You okay, Suzie?" Lopmon asked from his usual perch on Suzie's shoulder.

"Huh?" Suzie responded upon being shaken from her thoughts. "Oh, I'm fine Lopmon. Why do you ask?"

"You've been pretty quiet this morning." Lopmon answered. "Is something bothering you?"

"It's… it's nothing." Suzie lied. She'd tell Lopmon about many things, but her dreams she had decided to keep secret even from him.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Lopmon reminded her. "I won't laugh or anything."

Suzie wondered if perhaps she should tell Lopmon about her dreams. The way things had been going it was probably only a matter of time before he found out about them anyway. And she knew that he wouldn't judge her about them. Just as Suzie was about to open her mouth to tell Lopmon what was on her mind, the rabbit Digimon suddenly became very alert and jumped off Suzie's shoulder to the ground. Suzie didn't have to wait long to find out what had made Lopmon so alert. Emerging from around the corner of the wall of stone next to the sidewalk Suzie was on was one of the most horrid-looking Digimon Suzie had ever laid eyes on.

The creature was fairly large and most of its body was encased in a rotten grey eggshell. Extending out from a large hole in the front of the shell was a long brown demonic-looking head with several hideous eyes and a mouth like a crocodile's. It had long brown gangly arms that ended in claws and a pair or stubbly brown reptilian legs. On its back was a small pair of brown bat-like wings.

"Suzie, we need to take care of this thing, quick!" Lopmon told her.

"I hear ya!" Suzie agreed as she pulled out her D-Arc. "Go get 'em, Lopmon!"

With that, Lopmon glowed with a pink light and began to transform. "Lopmon digivolve to… Turuiemon!"

In moments, Lopmon had transformed into a lavender-colored humanoid rabbit with three small horns on its forehead. He had on a yellow gi along with a blue bandanna that was tied around his neck. He wore black shoes and red gloves that each had a bladed weapon.

"Oh crud! I could only evolve you to your champion form again?" Suzie exclaimed.

"Don't worry. This form should be more than enough to take this guy out!" Turuiemon assured her. "Gauntlet Claw!"

With that, Turuiemon leapt forward and delivered several swift punches to the digital abomination using the bladed weapons on his hands. The creature seemed unfazed by the kung-fu rabbit's attacks and merely swatted him away with his right arm. Turuiemon quickly flipped back after being hit and landed on his feet.

"Boy! This thing sure is tough." Turuiemon declared. "What kind of Digimon is it anyway?"

"Let's see…" Suzie replied as she looked at her D-Arc. A small holographic screen depicting the creature appeared over the device. "Looks like this thing is called Devitamamon, and… oh crap! It's a Mega level!"

"Huh?" a startled Turuiemon responded as he looked back at his human partner.

Before either of them could react, Devitamamon hit Tururiemon with several red lasers fired from its multiple eyes. The rabbit warrior was knocked back and reverted back to Lopmon. The angered demon egg Digimon then roared at Suzie and her fallen partner.

"Looks like we're done for!" Suzie exclaimed as she closed her eyes and held Lopmon tightly. She waited for the deathblow from Devitamamon to come.

Suddenly a fast-moving figure jumped over Suzie and Lopmon and punched Devitamamon in a spot next to its blasphemous head. The punch caused an explosion that caused the egg demon to roar in pain. Suzie opened her eyes, and standing between her and Devitamamon was a slender humanoid figure clad completely in pink armor. From the way the armor was constructed, it was hard for Suzie to tell of the one who save her was male or female, but whatever it was appeared to be a knight of some kind. The warrior had four gold ribbon-like bands extending back over its shoulders, and mounted on its right arm it had a weapon resembling a golden shield.

The pink knight turned its head to look back at Suzie. "You okay?"

"Uh, yeah." Suzie answered.

"Stay right there." The knight ordered. "Let me handle this thing."

With that, the pink knight charged forward and began to spin like a top, cutting Devitamamon with the ribbon-like blades on its armor. After the knight stopped moving, Suzie got her D-Arc back out to find out who her mysterious savior was. The D-Arc's holographic screen told her that the knight was Mega level Digimon known as Crusadermon. Before Devitamamon could fully recover from the knight's last attack, Crusadermon charged forward and punched the creature on the snout using the shield-like weapon on its arm. A twister full of rose petals surrounded the digital fiend before its body disintegrated into particles of data.

As Devitamamon's data drifted away, a glowing purple hexagon spun in midair where the abomination once stood. Crusadermon quickly grabbed the hexagon with its left hand.

"Uh, excuse me." Suzie spoke, causing Crusadermon to look back. "Thanks for saving me just now. I'm sure I would've been a goner if you hadn't shown up."

"A girl like you should be more careful walking these streets." Crusadermon flatly replied as it began to walk off. "Especially with such a lightweight Digimon as a partner."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" an offended Suzie asked.

Crusadermon stopped walking for a moment and looked back at her. "By the way, that hairstyle of yours is really cute."

"Uh, what?" a Suzie responded as her face turned a bit red. Crusadermon then leapt off into the air and vanished from sight.

Moments after the pink knight's departure, Lopmon regained consciousness. "Suzie, what happened? Where's Devitamamon?"

"It's gone." Suzie answered, her face still quite red. "As for what the heck just happened, I'm still trying to figure that out."

After taking a moment to recover from the harrowing incident that had just occurred, Suzie hurried back on her way to school with Lopmon. She was sure that being caught in the little battle that had just occurred was going to make her late. By the time they reach the building, Suzie went inside while Lopmon went to hang around somewhere outside on the property. The public had become more accepting of Digimon over the years, but one hanging around inside a school still tended to make some people nervous. Within moments, Suzie finally made it to her classroom just before class was about to start.

Suzie went to her desk towards the back of the room to find two of her friends already seated at their neighboring desks. One of them was a girl who had bright green eyes bright orange hair with pigtails who Suzie knew as Miyuki Sasami, or Miki as she liked to be called. The other girl, who looked to be thumbing through a fashion magazine, had shoulder-length wavy green hair and hazel eyes. Suzie knew this girl as Akari Tomo, or Aki for short.

"Hi Suzie!" Miki greeted in her usual cheerful manner as Suzie approached. "I was starting to think you'd be late."

"Yeah, well I ran into a little trouble on the way here." Suzie explained as she sat down.

"What happened?" Aki asked as she put down her magazine.

"It's kinda hard to explain." Suzie answered. "Why don't I wait and tell you both at lunch?"

Before either of Suzie's friends could reply, their teacher entered the room. Once all of the other students had gotten to their desk and did the traditional bow, class was ready to start.

"Everyone, I have a special announcement to make." The teacher informed them. "Starting today we'll have a new transfer student joining us. Please give a warm welcome to Alex O'Hara."

Walking into the classroom as the teacher wrote a name on the dry erase board was a young man with long red hair tied back in a ponytail and violet eyes behind a pair of half-moon glasses with black frames. An emotionless expression was on his face. Though his features seemed rather feminine he was still quite handsome. Already many of the girls in the class were already whispering to one another about how cute he was while a few of the guys seemed to be grumbling about there being more competition. Even Suzie found herself being drawn to the newcomer. She had already become lost in his striking violet eyes.

"So Alex, care to introduce yourself to the rest of the class?" the teacher asked.

"No thanks." Alex coldly replied in a husky yet somewhat high-pitched voice.

"Oh… well then in that case there's an empty desk by the window." The teacher told him. "Please sit down and we can begin."

"Hey, I don't know about you girls but I think the new guy is kinda cute." Miki whispered to Suzie and Aki.

"He's a little too girly-looking for my taste." Aki whispered back.

"What about you Suzie?" Miki asked.

"Uh, what?" Suzie responded. "Oh, yeah… he's not bad-looking. Not bad-looking at all."

"Hey!" the teacher called to them from the front of the room. "Cut the chitchat you three! In case you haven't noticed, I'm in the middle of a lecture. So pipe down and listen up!"

"Sorry Mr. Yamaguchi." The three girls replied.

As the teacher continued his lecture, Suzie found herself looking at the back of Alex's head. There was something about the new student that she found very appealing. The day wore on and soon enough it was time for lunch. Upon getting to the cafeteria, Suzie and her two friends quickly got something to eat and sat down.

"So Suzie, what was it that almost made you late this morning?" Miki asked.

"Well on my way here, Lopmon and I were attacked by this real nasty-looking Digimon." Suzie explained.

"So I guess you and Lopmon had to fight it off then." Miki assumed. "Looks like you obviously won since you're still with us."

"Actually Lopmon got his butt kicked." Suzie admitted, looking to the side as she took a sip from her milk carton.

"Oh… that's too bad." Miki replied. "But wait, if Lopmon was beat, how is it that you and him didn't end up as Digimon chow?"

"Well… the reason's because we were saved by a knight." Suzie answered.

"A knight?" Miki repeated with a quirked brow.

"Yeah, well a knight Digimon actually." Suzie explained.

"Are you talking about the Digimon of the guy that leads that little group you and your older brother are part of?" Aki asked.

"You mean Gallantmon? No, this was a Digimon that I've never seen before." Suzie answered. "It was called Crusadermon."

"It?" Miki repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I couldn't tell if Crusadermon was a guy or a girl." Suzie explained. "That's just how it is with some Digimon. A lot of people think Lopmon is a girl when they first meet him. It doesn't bother the little guy though since Digimon don't have a concept of gender or something like that."

"Well I think it's kind of romantic that you were rescued by a knight." Miki said somewhat dreamily.

"Too bad it wasn't a human knight." Aki pointed out. "Plus it might've been a girl."

"Oh yeah. That would be a total letdown for me if I was saved by a knight riding a white horse and he turned out to be a girl." Miki agreed.

"I don't know. There might be a few girls out there who are into that sort of thing." Aki assumed with a shrug.

"Well I'm certainly not one of them!" Miki declared with a slight look of disgust. "That kind of thing just doesn't seem right. I mean can you imagine?"

Miki's remark struck a nerve with Suzie. She could imagine how Miki and Aki would react if they knew about her erotic dreams about Jeri. If either of them found out, Suzie assumed that it was probably a safe bet that she'd be out two friends.

"Anyway Suzie, you obviously don't need a knight now that that new transfer student is here." Miki continued. "I've seen the way you've been looking at him ever since he came into our classroom."

"I've seen it too." Aki admitted. "You've definitely got it bad for this Alex guy."

"Well, he is pretty good looking." Suzie admitted. "Actually he may be the best-looking guy I ever seen."

"You should totally ask him out when you get the chance." Miki told her.

"Um, do you really think he'd be interested?" Suzie asked, blushing at the idea of going on a date with Alex.

"Why wouldn't he? You're nice, cute, not to mention totally fun to be around." Miki pointed out. "The guy would either have to be an idiot or a jerk not to be interested in you."

"But, uh… how do you guys think I should do it?" Suzie asked.

"Give him a little tour of the school later and ask him at the end." Aki suggested. "That way he gets to know you a little bit first."

"Okay, then that's what I'll do!" Suzie decided as she rose from her seat. "I'll go find him right now and offer him that tour!"

"Good luck!" Miki told her as Suzie walked off.

"Thanks!" Suzie replied as she looked back but continued to walk.

While looking back at her friends, Suzie ended up colliding with someone walking in the opposite direction, causing both of them to drop their lunch trays. Suzie quickly looked to see whom it was she had collided with and to her horror found that it was none other than Alex.

"Oh my god!" Suzie exclaimed. "I am so sorry about that!"

"You should be." Alex coldly replied as he bent down to pick up his tray. "A ditzy girl like you should watch where she's going."

"Wha… ditzy!" an offended Suzie responded.

"I just call 'em like I see 'em." Alex responded. "Now if you'll excuse me, I should probably go clean up."

Alex walked off, leaving Suzie frozen where she was. She had blown it. She had what seemed like the perfect plan to make a good impression on Alex and perhaps even ask him out, and in an instant it had been shot to hell. Miki and Aki quickly got up and walked over to her.

"Suzie! You okay?" a concerned Miki asked.

"He thinks I'm a ditz!" a defeated Suzie lamented.

"What? That jerk!" Miki exclaimed.

"Yeah." Aki agreed. "Sure you've had your moments, Suzie. But if any of us is a ditz, it's Miki."

"You're mean, Aki!" Miki pouted.

The day marched on, and the whole time Suzie couldn't help but think about how she had screwed everything up with Alex. The only thing about it was that it had taken her mind off of her strange dreams about Jeri. During each of her remaining classes, Suzie tried to figure out a way to salvage the situation. There was perhaps a chance that Aki's idea still might work. Then again it seemed very unlikely to Suzie that Alex would want anything to do with her after the little incident in the cafeteria.

After a few hours, gym class finally rolled around. Suzie found that the exercise was helping to take her mind off of her problems. But all too soon gym class came to an end, and Suzie found herself heading back to the locker room with Aki and Miki, once again trying to figure out what to do about Alex.

"You okay Suzie?" Aki asked as they headed for the locker room.

"Yeah, I guess." Suzie lied.

"Geez, are you still bummed about Alex?" Miki asked. "If you ask me, you're probably better off. I usually don't judge people from first impressions, but the guy seems like a total jerk."

"Maybe." Suzie admitted.

The three girls entered the locker room to find another young woman already inside wearing only a white bra and panties at the moment. The stranger noticed the trio's arrival, and Suzie was dumbstruck when she saw the young woman's face. Aki and Miki both did a double take as well upon seeing the young woman's face. While there was no question that the person standing before them was indeed female, that long red hair and those purple eyes were unmistakable.

"A-A-Alex?" Suzie managed to speak. "Is… is that really you?"

"Yeah. Who did you think I was?" Alex coldly replied.

"So… you're a girl?" Suzie asked, hoping that perhaps she was somehow mistaken or seeing things.

"Obviously." Alex indifferently confirmed. "Otherwise I wouldn't be in the girl's locker room, now would I?"

Suzie had no clue how to respond to this situation. Yet despite all the chaos and confusion, there was one thing that seemed crystal clear to her. Her day now officially sucked.

* * *

**Author's Note:** We'll just leave things off here for now. I'm sure at least a few of reading have guessed where some of this story is going. So in this first chapter we saw the "good" champion form of Lopmon, Turuiemon. It's from this form that Lopmon would evolve into Antylamon (Data) and then eventually Cherubimon (Good). I actually didn't find out about Turuiemon until only a year or two ago. It's a pity that it hasn't been used in any Digimon anime series. So I had resolved to somehow incorporate Turuiemon into one of my own fanfics.

As for Crusadermon's gender, I know that in the dub of Frontier Crusadermon was depicted as female. But in the original Japanese version it was depicted as a very effeminate male. Plus all of Crusadermon's pre-evolutions seem to be male, so I'm not really sure what to think. I have recently noticed though that Crusadermon's armor looks quite similar to the armor used by the heroes of a little anime series called _Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040_. In fact the pink knight's Spiral Masquerade attack seems very similar to the special attack of one of the characters used in that series.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	2. Encounters

**Author's Note:** I ended up fixing a little typo with Miki's last name in the last chapter. Though I'm not sure if anyone noticed. I found and corrected the mistake like only an hour or so after I put up the story.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 2: Encounters

The end of the school day had finally arrived, and Suzie was still reeling from the little surprise that Alex, the first guy that she could remember having a full-blown crush on, was actually a girl. Suzie had been experiencing a huge storm of emotions ever since she had seen Alex changing in the locker room. But the one emotion that seemed to stand out the most to her was rage. She couldn't help but feel like she had been tricked somehow. That combined with the fact that Alex had more or less treated her like dirt made Suzie decide to give the cross-dressing exchange student a piece of her mind.

As soon as classes finally wrapped up for the day, Suzie went to go wait for Alex by the front door of the school. After a fifteen-minute wait, Suzie finally saw the redheaded tomboy approaching the door with a bag slung over her back and the same emotionless expression still on her face.

"Hey!" Suzie called as she moved to block Alex's path.

"Oh, it's you again." Alex indifferently responded. "What the hell do you want?"

"I've got a real bone to pick with you!" Suzie told her. "Where do you get off tricking everyone by making them think you're a guy?"

"That's what this is about?" Alex asked with a quirked brow. "I'm not trying to trick anyone. I just don't like wearing skirts. And there really isn't that much difference between the boy and girl uniforms of this school, you know."

Suzie had to admit that Alex did have a point about the uniforms. Both types of uniforms had a tan blazer with the school seal on the breast pocket, along with a white shirt and red tie. The only major difference was that the boys wore grey slacks while the girls wore black skirts that were a little too north of the knee for Suzie's liking. Beyond that though, both types of uniforms were practically identical.

"Yeah, well… you still should've told everyone that you were a girl!" Suzie argued.

"Hey, I can't help it if I look like a guy when I dress like this." Alex retorted. "And what does it matter whether I'm a girl or not?"

"Well…" Suzie tried to respond, but she couldn't think of a good comeback.

"Look, is this about what happened in the cafeteria today?" Alex asked. "If it is, I'm sorry."

Suzie blinked a couple times in surprise. "You… you are?"

"Yeah, I've kinda been in a bad mood this morning." Alex admitted. "I'm not really attending this school by choice."

"You mean your family is forcing you to come here?" Suzie asked.

"Something like that." Alex answered. "You could call it a business thing."

"Oh…" Suzie replied. "Well this place really isn't that bad. I'm sure you'll get used to is after awhile."

"If you say so." Alex responded as she calmly walked past Suzie through the door. "But it's a pretty safe bet that I probably won't be around long enough to get used to it."

Before Suzie could ask Alex what she meant by that, Alex stopped walking and turned back to look at her. "By the way, that hairstyle of yours is really cute."

Suzie blushed at the comment Alex made about her pink hair. After a moment, Suzie went outside to try and catch up to Alex only to find that she was long gone.

"Hi Suzie." A familiar voice greeted. Suzie turned to her right and saw Lopmon walking towards her. "Did you have a good day?"

"Don't ask." Suzie replied with a heavy sigh.

"That bad, huh?" Lopmon replied. "Well, at least it's over now."

"Yeah, you're right about that." Suzie agreed. "The only way the rest of this day could get any worse was if another evil Digimon showed up."

"On that note, we should probably tell the others about what happened this morning." Lopmon suggested.

"Oh yeah, I guess we should tell them about Crusadermon and that nasty egg Digimon." Suzie agreed.

"Why don't you give Henry a call?" Lopmon suggested.

"No, if I told my brother he'd just freak out." Suzie pointed out. "You know how overprotective he gets. Let's just swing by Takato's place real quick and tell him."

"Works for me." Lopmon agreed as he hopped up on Suzie's shoulder.

As Suzie walked away from the school, she found herself once again thinking about how handsome Alex was. But she also thought about how beautiful she looked when she saw her in the locker room. Suzie shook off those thoughts and focused on getting to Takato's.

* * *

Alex walked through downtown towards an old office building that looked as though it had been abandoned for years. Walking by her side was a short reptilian creature with scaly blue legs and a tail wearing black and grey kendo gear with sleeves that were too long for its arms. On the top of its helmet was a pair of conical grey horns. The only parts of its face visible behind its wooden mask were two large round yellow eyes. Slung across its back was a bamboo sword. This creature was Alex's Digimon partner, Kotemon.

"So Alex, did you enjoy your first day at that new school?" Kotemon asked, breaking the silence between them.

"It was pretty much the same as every other school I've been to." Alex indifferently replied.

"I saw you talking to that girl we saved this morning in the doorway." Kotemon recalled. "Has she become a friend of yours?"

"She's no one." Alex flatly replied. "Now do you mind putting a sock in it for awhile?"

"Sorry. You know how I like to talk when I get nervous." Kotemon reminded her. "The commander isn't going to like that we weren't able to recapture Devitamamon."

"She'll just have to deal with it." Alex told him.

In moments, the duo had entered the abandoned office building and went straight to the elevator in the lobby. As soon as Alex pushed the down button, the doors of the elevator opened and the two of them went inside. The elevator car went downwards for several moments before finally stopping at the lowest level beneath the building. The doors opened to reveal a large sort of hanger crawling with soldiers dressed in black and people wearing lab coats. This chamber was the secret underground base of the Japanese branch of SAINT, the covert military organization that Alex and Kotemon worked for.

Waiting for Alex just a few feet away from the elevator was a woman who looked to be in her mid thirties with straight shoulder-length blonde hair, a few locks of which were tucked behind her right ear. She had pale skin and eyes that were the color of sewage. The woman's outfit was black pantsuit with a grey shirt. This woman was the handler that had been in charge of Alex ever since she had joined the organization, Margo Lane. Margo looked at Alex with a very stern expression. It was clear to Alex that she was in for a tongue-lashing.

"You had better have a good explanation for what happened this morning, Ms. O'Hara." Margo told her. "You were ordered to recapture Devitamamon, and yet you destroyed it. Do you have any idea about all the effort that had gone into capturing that specimen in the first place?"

"It couldn't be helped." Alex told her. "A civilian got in the way, a girl. I had no choice but to take Devitamamon out. What did you want me to do, have me let the thing eat her?"

"I expected you to carry out my orders." Margo told her. "I told you this morning that you were to recapture Devitamamon at all costs! One girl's life would've been a small price to pay for a valuable specimen like the one we've now just lost thanks to your heroics."

Alex responded by reaching into her bag and pulling out a purple metal hexagon and throwing it to Margo. Margo caught the object and saw that it had the image of a horned skull engraved on the front of it.

"And just what is this?" Margo asked.

"That's one of those DigiMemories we've all been told about." Alex explained. "One of our goals is to collect these things, right? I found it when I took out Devitamamon."

"This still does not excuse your actions, Ms. O'Hara!" Margo told her. "It seems you need to be taught another lesson about following orders."

"That's enough, Ms. Lane." A deep voice interrupted, causing Alex and Margo to look.

Walking towards them was a very imposing-looking man in his fifties. He stood at about seven feet tall and had long white hair that went down past his shoulders, along with a small white beard pointed beard on his chin. The right half of his face was scarred as though it had been burned a long time ago, and an eye patch covered his right eye. He had on a white suit and tie, and a black leather glove covered his right hand, presumably to hide more burn scars. Alex knew this man as the person who ran SAINT, Gabriel Bishop.

"Uh, Mr. Bishop!" Margo spoke with a somewhat frightened expression. "I didn't expect to see you here today, sir. I would've thought you'd be busy with more important matters."

Gabriel said nothing and merely held out his gloved hand. Margo got the message and handed him the object that Alex had given her.

Gabriel held the hexagon up to the light. "At long last, the Dark DigiMemory is finally in our possession. With this, we are now a major step closer towards completing Project NEO." He put the hexagon in his coat pocket and turned to Alex. "Good work, Ms. O'Hara. You've done an excellent job for us today."

"Uh, thanks." Alex replied.

"But sir! O'Hara disobeyed orders and destroyed a valuable specimen." Margo reminded him.

"And in doing so, she helped us get closer to our ultimate goal." Gabriel pointed out. "The end result is often the only thing that matters, Ms. Lane. The lose of a single Digimon is a small price to pay for acquiring another DigiMemory."

"Yes sir." Margo replied.

"Go to your quarters and rest, Ms. O'Hara." Gabriel ordered. "You've earned it." And with that, he walked off.

"This had better not happen again." Margo warned before storming off. As soon as she was gone, Alex and Kotemon both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Boy, that was brutal!" Kotemon declared. "Looks like we got lucky though."

"Yeah, good thing Old Man Bishop showed up when he did." Alex agreed. "Never thought I'd ever actually be happy to see that guy."

"I know. There's always been something that just isn't right about him." Kotemon replied. "I just can't seem to put my finger on it."

"Let's just get to our quarters and take a nap." Alex decided. "It's been a really long day."

After taking a quick bus ride through the city, Suzie and Lopmon arrived at the apartment building that was home to the de-facto leader of the Digimon Tamers in Japan, Takato Matsuki. It wasn't long before Suzie had reached Takato's apartment and knocked on the door. The door opened in only a matter of seconds, but the person who opened it was clearly not Takato. It was Jeri, wearing a pair of pink tight-fitting shorts and a purple top that showed off her toned abs, which Suzie found herself being drawn to. Suzie also noticed that Jeri's body seemed to be covered in sweat, which seemed to make her look even sexier.

"Oh, hi Suzie." Jeri greeted. "I didn't expect to see you dropping by."

"Uh, yeah. I wasn't expecting you to be here either." Suzie replied. Though she wasn't entirely surprised to see Jeri there, as she was Takato's girlfriend. "Is Takato in?"

"Yeah, we just got back from a little workout." Jeri explained as she wiped the sweat from her brow with the while towel that was draped over her neck. "Come on in."

* * *

Suzie entered the apartment with Lopmon and looked around the room to see another person sitting on the couch. He had wild brown hair and was wearing sunglasses with a grey t-shirt and faded jeans. Suzie knew this young man as Parker Nash, and American Tamer who had been staying in Japan ever since the Crimson Plague incident. Sitting next to Parker on the couch was a fairly short humanoid figure with brown hair and blue skin wearing a primarily yellow garment with several zippers, along with brown leather boots and gloves that each had a golden crescent moon on the front. He also had on a blue cape with a collar that covered the lower half of his face, and a large conical blue hat with a white skull on the front. This person was Parker's Digimon partner, Wizardmon.

Two other Digimon were also in the room watching T.V. One of them was Jeri's Digimon partner Calumon, a small white creature with large green eyes, short arms, large feet with purple toes, and ears with purple triangular ridges. On its forehead was an inverted red triangle surrounded by three smaller black triangles. The other Digimon was Takato's partner Guilmon, a red dragon-like creature with a white underside and a pair of batwing-shaped ears or horns on its head.

Parker glanced and noticed Suzie entering the room. "Well if it isn't the lovely Ms. Wong. And to what do we owe this pleasure."

"Hi Parker." Suzie greeted back. "I guess you being here means that you've been teaching Takato and Jeri more of that street fighting stuff."

"Yep. We made a lot of progress today." Parker confirmed. "Jeri's actually pretty good at it."

"I guess I do have some talent at it." Jeri modestly replied. "Learning this stuff has been a good stress reliever. Plus it's gotten me in great shape."

"Yeah… you look totally fit." Suzie agreed, trying very hard not to blush.

Entering the room from the apartment's kitchen with a glass of water was a young man with light-brown hair wearing a red t-shirt with black shorts. This young man of course was Takato.

"Oh, hi Suzie." Takato greeted upon noticing his newest guest. "Didn't expect you to show up. What brings you out here?"

"Well, something happened to me and Lopmon this morning." Suzie began. "Don't freak out or anything, but a crazy Digimon tried to kill us."

"What?" Takato and Jeri both exclaimed.

"I told you guys not to freak out!" Suzie responded.

"Suzie, you should've called one of us for help!" Takato told her as he walked up.

"Yeah, you and Lopmon could've been seriously hurt or worse." Jeri agreed.

"Hey! I do happen to be a Tamer like you guys, you know!" Suzie reminded them.

"Well yeah, but Lopmon isn't really all that strong." Takato pointed out. "No offence, little guy." The rabbit Digimon merely waved the comment off. "He hasn't been able to evolve into Antylamon since the Locomon incident, and that was years ago."

"Will you guys relax and give the girl a break?" Parker cut in as he got up from the couch. "Suzie and Lopmon were obviously able to handle themselves since they're still standing here."

"That's true, I guess." Takato admitted. "So Suzie, does that mean you and Lopmon were able to beat the Digimon that attacked you?"

"Well… actually no." Suzie admitted. "Another Digimon came along and saved us."

"What Digimon was that?" Jeri asked.

Rather than simply tell them, Suzie pulled out her D-Arc and showed them Crusadermon's info. Takato and the others all took a good look at the holographic screen.

"Crusadermon, huh?" Takato spoke after taking a good look. "Never heard of that Digimon before."

"Hey Wiz! Come over here and check this out." Parker called.

Wizardmon got up and picked up his golden staff that was propped up against the couch. The magical Digimon took a good look at the screen on Suzie's D-Arc.

"Seen any Digimon like that before?" Parker asked Wizardmon.

"This is the first I've heard of Crusadermon." The wizard replied. "But from the look of this data, it seems to be a Royal Knight."

"You mean the kind of Mega Digimon that you and Guilmon evolve into?" Takato asked.

"Precisely." Wizardmon confirmed. "But whether or not Crusadermon is an ally, I cannot say for certain."

"Well Crusadermon has to be a good guy! I mean he did save me this morning." Suzie pointed out. "At least I'm kinda sure it was a he."

"Well whatever's going on, we should tell the others about this." Takato decided.

"Uh, by others, does that mean you're going to tell my brother?" Suzie asked.

"Well of course." Takato confirmed as he pulled out his smart phone. "Why wouldn't I tell Henry about something like this?"

Suzie let out a heavy sigh. "I knew on the way over I should've just told Rika."

The next morning, much to Suzie's annoyance, a dark-haired young man wearing a tweed jacket with a black shirt and tan slacks was escorting her and Lopmon to school. This of course was Suzie's older brother, Henry. Riding on Henry's shoulder was his Digimon partner, Terriermon, who looked like a white and green one-horned version of Lopmon.

"You really don't have to do this, Henry." Suzie told him. "I'm old enough to start taking care of myself, you know."

"I'm not going to take any chances." Henry told her. "Until we know for sure that more wild Digimon aren't going to pop up around here, I'm not going to take the risk of letting you walk to school on your own."

"Well… well don't you have a university class or something to get to?" Suzie argued.

"My first class today isn't until 11:00." Henry calmly replied. "And even if I did have a class this morning, Takato told me that he or even Kazu or Kenta could escort you instead."

Suzie let out a frustrated sigh. She knew it was pointless to argue with her older brother whenever he got overprotective of her. What annoyed Suzie the most was the whole clam yet stern attitude Henry seemed to take. There was never any arguing or reasoning with him. Henry would simply decide how things were going to be done and that was the end of it. And what was even more infuriating was that all of the other Tamers would seem to take Henry's side.

After a few minutes, the four of them finally reached Suzie's school. They stopped a few feet away from the door to say their goodbyes.

"Terriermon and I will be back to pick you up at about 3:30." Henry informed Suzie. "You and Lopmon wait for us out here until we show up."

"Yeah, yeah." Suzie responded as she walked towards the door.

Henry stopped her by grabbing her by the arm. "I mean it, Suzie. Don't leave until we come."

"I get it, okay?" Suzie told him as she pulled her arm free. "I'm not a little kid anymore, you know!"

Henry sighed and his expression softened. "Suzie, I'm only trying to look out for you."

"Henry's just a bit scared after what happened to you yesterday." Terriermon added. "He's only doing this because he cares about you a lot."

"Yeah, I know." Suzie replied.

Henry gave Suzie a small smile and put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll see you later today. Call me or the others if anything happens, okay?"

Suzie nodded, and with that Henry and Terriermon left. Suzie sighed again before heading into the building while Lopmon went off to go hang around in the schoolyard. It looked like she was in for another bad day.

* * *

Alex left through the front door of the school to meet up with Kotemon and head back to headquarters. On her wait out, Alex spotted Suzie sitting on the grass and tinkering with her phone. She also noticed that Suzie looked like she was down about something. Out of curiosity, Alex walked over to see what was going on.

"Hey." Alex spoke, getting Suzie's attention.

"Oh, hi Alex." Suzie greeted back.

"So what're you hanging around here for?" Alex asked. "Were you waiting to chew me out about something again?"

"No, I'm waiting for my brother to come pick me up." Suzie explained. "He should be here in a few minutes."

Alex glanced and noticed Lopmon sitting on the ground next to Suzie. "So are you one of those Digimon Tamers I've heard about?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah I am." Suzie confirmed. "Alex, meet Lopmon, Lopmon this Alex O'Hara. She transferred into my class yesterday."

"It's nice to meet you, Alex." Lopmon greeted.

"She's pretty cute." Alex told Suzie.

"Actually, Lopmon's a guy." Suzie informed her. "Don't worry though. You're not the first person to make that mistake. Guess we're kinda even now for me mistaking you for a guy yesterday."

"I guess." Alex replied as she sat down on the grass next to Suzie. "So why are you waiting for your brother to come get you? Is this something that happens every day?"

"No. He's kinda freaked out because yesterday morning Lopmon and I were attacked by this nasty Digimon." Suzie explained. "Actually we'd probably both be dead right now if this pink knight hadn't come along and saved us. But now my brother's gone all overprotective on me and insists on walking me both ways to school until he and the other Tamers in our group are sure something like this isn't going to happen again."

"That sounds kinda rough." Alex admitted.

"It drives me crazy." Suzie told her. "Everyone always seems to treat me like I'm still a little kid. I'm not even the youngest member of the team. There are these two other kids who are just a few years younger than me, but it seems like everyone treats them differently because their Digimon can evolve into this badass demon biker. It's just not fair."

"At least you've got a lot of people who seem to care about you." Alex pointed out as she got back to her feet. "That's more than I can say for me."

"What do you mean?" Suzie asked.

"Never mind." Alex replied as she walked off. "I guess I'll see you around. Later."

Alex continued walking and in moments was out of sight from Suzie and Lopmon. As soon as she was a short distance away from the school, Kotemon emerged from the bushes.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kotemon." Alex told the little reptile.

"That's fine. I saw you talking to that girl again." Kotemon replied. "It looked like you and she were getting along pretty well."

"She's okay, I guess." Alex indifferently replied as they walked. "I was only talking to her before because it looked like something was bugging her."

"That's a little odd, coming from you." Kotemon noted. "You usually don't care about the other students at the schools you go to."

Kotemon's observation caused Alex to pause. Her Digimon companion was right about her not really caring about any of the others students at whatever school she would be attending at the time. She never even bothered to try. Each school she went to was just temporary while she carried out whatever assignment she was on for SAINT. Whenever an assignment was completed, she'd leave. So Alex never even bothered making any friends. Yet there was something different about Suzie, something that Alex just couldn't put her finger on.

Alex didn't have much time to think about what it was about Suzie that drew her. Both she and Kotemon suddenly heard a scream coming from back at the school. The two of them hurried back and saw Suzie and Lopmon being cornered by a large reddish-brown dog covered in black armor. It had long grey hair growing from the back of its head, and over its front legs were pieces of shoulder armor shaped like dogs.

"It's the Cerberumon that escaped with Devitamamon!" Kotemon exclaimed.

"Damn!" Alex cursed. "Of all the people that thing could've gone after, why it go after her?"

"That's not really important now." Kotemon pointed out. "Right now we have to Cerberumon."

"Right." Alex agreed as she pulled out a black D-Arc with a pink strap and screen frame. "Let's do it, Kotemon!"

With that, Alex's D-Arc gave out the mechanized cry of one word. "BIOMERGE!"

Alex changed into a ball of pink light and entered Kotemon, triggering his transformation. "Kotemon biomerge digivolve to… Crusadermon!"

With the Digimon's transformation into the pink knight finished, Crusadermon leapt in and punched Cerberumon in the side with its shield weapon. The impact created an explosion that knocked Cerberumon away just as few feet.

Crusadermon quickly went over to Suzie and Lopmon. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Suzie replied. "Um, thanks for coming to save me again."

"Don't read too much into it. I just happened to be in the neighborhood." Crusadermon told her. "You do seem to have a knack for getting in danger though."

As Crusadermon was talking, Cerberumon recovered from the knight's attack and got back to its feet. The demon hound began to howl, getting the attention of Crusadermon and the others. Suddenly Cerberumon became enveloped in a pillar of crackling black energy. The energy soon faded and Cerberumon had transformed into a bipedal dog covered almost completely in black and red armor. On the end of each of its arms it had a large cannon in the shape of a dog's head.

"Did that thing just evolve?" a stunned Suzie asked.

"Nah, it just went through a mode change." Crusadermon explained. "But now it's gonna be a lot harder to take down."

Cerberumon growled and fired two intense beams of black and red energy from its cannons. Crusadermon quickly grabbed Suzie and Lopmon and leapt away from the attack. The blast hit the ground where they once stood a split second later, creating a huge explosion. Crusadermon landed only a few feet away and put Suzie and Lopmon down.

"You two better get out of here." Crusadermon told them. "This is gonna be a rough battle, and I don't want either of you getting hurt."

Before Suzie and Lopmon could respond, several missiles suddenly came down from the sky and struck Cerberumon, creating a good-sized explosion. The trio looked up, and flying down from the sky was a large humanoid robot with mostly green armor. It had a white dog-like face, and on the sides of its head were two green airplane-like wings that seemed to serve as ears. Mounted in each of the robot's shoulders was a large missile with a yellow dog-like face on the end. This was Terriermon's Mega form, MegaGargomon.

"Suzie, are you okay?" MegaGargomon asked in Henry's voice.

"Yeah, I'm good." Suzie assured him.

The smoke left from MegaGargomon's barrage cleared to reveal Cerberumon still on its feet. Though the dog Digimon looked as if it was gravely injured. Crusadermon took the opportunity and charged in to deliver a final punch with its shield. The impact created another explosion that knocked Cerberumon onto its back. The fallen Digimon began to dissolve into particles of data that drifted away through the air.

With the battle over, Crusadermon looked up at MegaGargomon. "Thanks for the assist, big guy. You saved me a whole lot of trouble."

"You're Crusadermon, right?" MegaGargomon deduced. "What do you know about these Digimon that have been popping up around here?"

"Sorry, I'm afraid I can't tell you anything about that." Crusadermon replied. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

With that, Crusadermon leapt onto the roof of the school and flew off before MegaGargomon could catch it. MegaGargomon split back into Henry and Terriermon, who both quickly went up to Suzie and Lopmon.

"I thought I told you to call me if anything like this happened!" Henry reminded Suzie in a scolding tone.

"Give me a break! That psycho dog showed up like only a minute or so before you got here!" Suzie informed him. "Then Crusadermon appeared and saved me again. Everything happened so fast."

"Wait, you mean Crusadermon showed up about the same time as that Digimon?" Henry asked.

"Yeah. It was just like when Devitamamon attacked me yesterday." Suzie confirmed.

"Do you think it means something Henry?" Terriermon asked.

"Maybe." Henry replied. "But until we know what's really going on, I don't think we can trust Crusadermon."

* * *

**Author's Note:** In retrospect, I feel like I should've waited to put this story up until after I had gotten both this chapter and the last one done. This story ended up taking me longer than I thought to set up. In fact that's why both of these chapters ended up being so long. But now that I've introduced most of the major characters and everything, this story should start to pick up a bit.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	3. The Sentinels

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 3: The Sentinels

An uneventful three days had gone by since Alex had saved Suzie from Cerberumon. No other Digimon specimens had escaped SAINT custody, and no new rogues had suddenly emerged from the Digital World to cause trouble. Alex certainly didn't mind not having to fight any wild Digimon of course. But fighting was at least a more exciting alternative to keeping up the dull role of an ordinary high school student. Of course school life hadn't been completely terrible during those three days. Every now and then, Alex would end up hanging out with Suzie in between classes. While the two of them hadn't exactly become friends, there was just something about the pink-haired girl that Alex seemed to like. She was just simply fun to be around.

That afternoon, Alex returned to SAINT headquarters with Kotemon and headed to her quarters to get some homework done. Keeping up the role of student unfortunately meant doing a good job in class.

"Hey there, Lexi." A familiar voice greeted after Alex and Kotemon had only gotten about ten feet away from the elevator. "Long time, no see."

Alex looked to her right and sighed heavily. Standing a few feet away from her was a young man about her age with somewhat shaggy blonde hair and green eyes. Standing next to him was a creature that resembled a bipedal lion cub with red fur. The young man was Richard Flag, one of her fellow Tamers affiliated with SAINT. And the creature with him was his Digimon partner, Coronamon.

"I've told you a million times, Flag. Don't call me Lexi." Alex responded with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Well it looks like you haven't changed a bit." Richard remarked as he and Coronamon approached. "You're still as serious as ever."

"I thought you were on some assignment in Paris." Alex recalled.

"I was, but now I'm here." Richard replied. "Orders, you know?"

"What orders?" Alex asked.

"The same orders that I obviously got a couple of days ago." Another familiar voice cut in.

Alex looked to see who spoke and gave another heavy sigh. Approaching them was a young woman, also about her age, with long black hair that went half way down her back and brown eyes. Walking at her side was a short green bipedal creature that looked almost like a cross between a lizard and a plant. Growing atop its head like a tuft of hair was a large purple-red flower. The young woman was another one of Alex's fellow Tamers, Sandra Prince. And the Digimon at her side was her partner, Palmon.

"You're looking quite well, Alex." Sandra greeted. "Though I have to ask. Why are you wearing what's obviously a boy's school uniform?"

"I don't like skirts, okay?" Alex replied. "Especially not the short skirts that go with this kind of uniform."

"Well you do have a point. I've always thought that the people who design most of these school uniforms are most likely pervy old men." Sandra admitted. "Still, young women like the two of us should take every opportunity to show the world just how beautiful we are."

"Indeed." Palmon agreed. "A flower is always at its best when it shows the world its beautiful petals."

"Looks like you two are still as shallow as ever." Alex observed. "Now guys said that you were ordered here?"

"I sent for them." Margo interrupted as she walked up. "Both Mr. Bishop and myself felt it best that you had some backup while you're stationed here."

"Is this about a few days ago when I fought Cerberumon?" Alex asked.

"Yes, but not simply because you failed to retrieve it." Margo answered. "If that was the case, we would be having a very different conversation right now. But the reason you lost that specimen was because one of the Tamers in this city got in your way. Something like that is bound to happen again, so it was decided we needed to take certain measures when it does."

"So does this mean what I think it does, commander?" Sandra asked.

"At the first opportunity, the three of you are to eliminate those Tamers by any means necessary." Margo ordered.

"Well if I may say so ma'am, it's about damn time." Richard declared. "These Japanese Tamers have been loose cannons that should've been put in their place long ago. Sure they did the world a favor during the D-Reaper incident and just recently during that Crimson Plague thing. But heroes like them who don't answer to any government are just too dangerous to be left alone."

"I'm glad you feel that way." Margo replied. "It's for this reason why Mr. Bishop decided to recruit all of you those like you in the first place. To ensure the safety of the world, we must crush anyone or anything that might pose a threat to it. We expect you all to do your best."

"You can count on us, commander." Richard replied with a salute.

"Good." Margo replied, and with that she left.

"It looks like are old team is back together again." Coronamon observed. "We should celebrate."

"Coronamon's right!" Richard enthusiastically agreed. "We should all go to the cafeteria and catch up on old times."

"You guys can do that on your own." Alex told them. "I've got studying to do."

"You really need to learn to relax, Alex." Sandra told her. "Otherwise you'll get wrinkles."

"As if I gave a damn about that." Alex responded as she left with Kotemon.

A few moments later, Alex finally reached her quarters and unloaded her school bag. She sat at her small desk in the room and began to pour over her work while Kotemon began practicing his sword swings. Alex was finding it very hard to concentrate on her work with the way things had suddenly turned out. She had never liked Richard and Sandra very much, and with the two of them back, her mission had become a lot more unpleasant.

* * *

Margo made her way down the hall until she made it to the door to Gabriel's office. The door automatically slid open as soon as she approached. It never ceased to amaze Margo how Gabriel always seemed to know when she was coming. Margo entered the dimly lit office to find the white-haired gentleman at his desk reading some papers.

"I take it you have something to report, Ms. Lane." Gabriel assumed, not once looking up from what he was reading.

"Tamers Richard Flag and Sandra Prince have finally arrived." Margo reported. "As their cover, they will be attending the same school as Ms. O'Hara starting tomorrow."

"Excellent." Gabriel replied. "Then I assume we are now prepared to deal with the Tamers of this city."

"It would seem so, sir." Margo replied. "Though I am uncertain about O'Hara. Lately her performance in the field has seemed a bit lacking."

"That is your problem." Gabriel told her as he finally put down what he was reading. "I am here only to oversee the transfer of Project NEO to this base."

"So you think that the final DigiMemories will show up here." Margo deduced.

"That is precisely what I think." Gabriel confirmed. "And I shouldn't have to tell you again, Ms. Lane, that the completion of Project NEO is this organization's top priority. That is why we cannot risk anyone interfering, is that understood?"

"Yes sir." Margo replied.

"That will be all." Gabriel told her. With that, Margo excused herself from the office.

* * *

It had been a typical day for Suzie as she entered the cafeteria with Miki and Aki. As they headed for their usual table, Suzie attempted to spot where Alex was sitting but couldn't find her. What Suzie and her two friends did quickly notice however was that quite a few students had clustered together in a corner of the room. Suzie noticed that most of the students were girls.

"What's going on over there?" Suzie wondered.

"I heard that one of the other classes had gotten a couple of new transfer students." Aki answered. "They've been here less than a day, but they're already pretty popular. Word is they're like a power couple or something."

"Maybe we should go over and meet them then." Miki suggested.

"Why not?" Suzie agreed.

The three of them went over and made their way through the small gathering of students. They managed to break through and found Alex sitting at the table with Richard and Sandra. Richard seemed to be in the middle of regaling their audience of girls with a story that seemed to involve some soccer game he had been in.

"There you are, Alex." Suzie spoke. "I was trying to figure out where you were."

"Hey!" Richard snapped. "Do you mind not interrupting me, pinky? I've just gotten to the best part of my story."

"Geez, sorry." An offended Suzie responded. "Alex, are these two friends of yours or something?"

"Indeed, Alex. Are you really friends with a girl that has such obnoxious hair?" Sandra asked.

"Nah, we're not friends." Alex answered. "This is just some annoying girl from my class that keeps bugging me. You're right about her hair though, Prince. It is pretty obnoxious."

"But… you told me you liked my hair." A hurt Suzie responded.

"Yeah? Well maybe I was lying." Alex coldly told her. "Now get lost."

Very calmly, Suzie backed away and made her way through the small cluster of students. Once she was out, she put her tray down on one of the tables and walked out of the room. As soon as she was sure no one would see her, Suzie began running down the halls. She ran until she had somehow made it to the school roof. Suzie went over to a corner of the roof and sat down, bringing her knees to her chest. She didn't know exactly why, but what Alex had said about her hair had made Suzie want to cry.

Suzie's mood had not improved at all by the time the school day had ended. As Henry and Terriermon escorted her and Lopmon home, Suzie was still trying to figure out why Alex had acted that way toward her. Just when it seemed like they were starting to become friends, Alex had turned around and acted even worse than the way she did the day she and Suzie first met. And Suzie simply couldn't figure out why.

Henry glanced back and noticed Suzie's mood. "Hey Suzie, you okay?"

"Huh?" Suzie responded upon being snapped from her thoughts. "Oh, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Henry asked again. "You know you can tell me if something's wrong, right?"

"I told you I'm fine." Suzie insisted. "Now will you leave me alone? I don't want to talk right now."

"Hey." A familiar voice interrupted.

Suzie and Henry looked and saw Takato approaching them on the sidewalk with Jeri, Guilmon, and Calumon. With the couple was a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair wearing a black leather jacket. This was another one of Suzie and Henry's fellow Tamers, Rika Nonaka. Accompanying Rika was her Digimon partner, a yellow and white bipedal fox with fingerless purple gloves and ice-blue eyes known as Renamon.

"Oh, hi Takato." Henry greeted. "What brings all of you out this way?"

"We're just on our way to meet up with Ryo to see this movie." Takato explained.

"We'd invite you guys to come with, but it's kind of a double date thing." Rika added.

"That's fine. I've got stuff to do." Henry replied. "Plus I'm sure Suzie has homework she needs to finish."

Before anyone could respond, Guilmon began to growl and the pupils of his eyes shrank. At the same time, the other Digimon became more alert. Suddenly some kind of explosion was heard not far away.

Rika let out a heavy sigh. "Let me guess…"

"A Digimon has just appeared." Renamon responded.

"Well, so much for the movie." Takato observed. "Let's get going, guys."

Henry and Rika nodded and their three D-Arc's let out the mechanized cry of a familiar word. "BIOMERGE!"

The three Tamers turned into balls of light and entered their respective Digimon.

"Terriermon biomerge digivolve to… MegaGargomon!" Terriermon cried out as he transformed into the giant dog-faced robot.

"Guilmon biomerge digivolve to… Gallantmon!" Guilmon cried out as he transformed.

In a flash of red light, Guilmon had become a white knight wearing white and red armor and a flowing red cape. The visor of his helmet was styled to look like Guilmon's original face, and on top of the helmet was a stream of long silver hair. On the knight's right arm was a long silver lance, and on his left was a large round silver shield with gold trim and a red version of the symbol on Calumon's forehead on the front, surrounded by the symbol of a golden sun.

"Renamon biomerge digivolve to… Sakuyamon!" Renamon cried out as she transformed.

With a flash of blue light, the yellow fox had changed into a woman with long silver hair styled to look like a pair of foxtails. A golden fox mask covered the top half of her face, and she had on a black bodysuit with pieces of gold armor on her chest and shoulders. In addition to her original fingerless elbow-high gloves, the woman also had on a matching pair of knee-high high-heeled boots and a black belt with a golden buckle in the shape of a fox head.

"Let's go!" Gallantmon commanded.

The three newly evolved Digimon took off down the street towards the source of the disturbance, prompting Suzie and Jeri to follow with Lopmon and Calumon. The group arrived to find that the creature that was on a rampage was a large red and orange dinosaur-like Digimon was a row of long spines on its back that looked like the blades of army daggers.

Suzie got out her D-Arc to find out what they were dealing with. "Let's see… Spinomon. According to this, it's a Mega level Digimon."

"It doesn't seem that tough." Gallantmon remarked. "Looks like we won't be missing that movie after all."

"Not so fast!" a voice interrupted. The group looked and saw Richard and his team standing in a nearby alley, though the darkness of the alley combined with distance made it impossible to make out their faces. "We'll take if from here. D-Sentinels move out!"

The D-Arcs of the three newly arrived Tamers reacted, turning them into balls of light that entered the bodies of their three Digimon that were also in the alley.

"Coronamon biomerge digivolve to… Apollomon!" the little lion Digimon cried out, his voice changing with the utterance of his other name.

In a flash of orange red light, Coronamon had transformed into a muscular warrior with a lion-like face and orange-red fur. He had on red armor, and growing from his head was a long flowing yellow mane. On his back the warrior had two decorative black blades that pointed upward, and between them burned a fireball that was like a miniature sun.

"Palmon biomerge digivolve to… Rosemon!" the plant Digimon cried out as she transformed.

With a green flash, Palmon had become a young-looking well-endowed woman with long blonde hair and a mask like the petals of a red rose that covered most of her head. She had on a low-cut red bodysuit with a green leaf-like cape that had a high collar and a white underside. The woman had on black boots that went up past her knees and red gloves that went up past her elbows. Placed between her breasts was a single flower, and coiled around each arm was a brown thorn-covered vine.

"Kotemon biomerge digivolve to… Crusadermon!" the reptile Digimon cried out as he transformed into the pink knight.

The three Digimon leapt out of the alley and moved in to face Spinomon. The dinosaur Digimon breathed out a stream of blue flames at the trio, but they quickly moved out of the way and split up to surround the beast. Rosemon extended her two vines and began using them to whip Spinomon from the side. Spinomon roared in pain from the electricity being generated by the rose warrior's whips. Crusadermon then leapt in and punched the dinosaur in the right side of its face, creating a small explosion. Spinomon began to stagger and nearly toppled over.

"Eat this!" Apollomon cried out before blasting Spinomon in the face with a stream of flames shot from the fireball that floated between the ornate spikes of his armor.

The defeated Spinomon toppled over onto his right side, crushing an unfortunately placed car. The dinosaur's body quickly dissolved into particles of data that drifted away in the wind.

"Well that was disappointing." Apollomon remarked.

"I know. I was expecting something a little more challenging." Rosemon agreed.

"Hey." Gallantmon interrupted as he approached. "I don't know who you guys are, but thanks for the help."

Apollomon responded by firing another stream of flames from his fireball. Gallantmon quickly moved his shield to block the attack.

"What the hell was that for?" Gallantmon demanded to know.

"It's time I cleared something up. That killer dinosaur was only a warm up for us." Apollomon told him. "Our real objective is to destroy you."

"Wait, you came here to fight us?" Sakuyamon asked.

"What does it look like, fox girl?" Roesmon answered.

"You rogue Tamers are a danger to the public. Even bigger than the danger created by wild Digimon like the one we just took down." Apollomon told him. "As D-Sentinels, it's our duty to take you all out!"

"D-Sentinels? What are you three talking about?" MegaGargomon demanded to know.

"You'd be wise to give up now and turn yourselves in." Crusadermon told them. "Otherwise we're not going to show you any mercy."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Apologies for making the battle with Spinomon rather short. It was kind of a minor battle, so I didn't want to draw it out too much. Especially since there's a much bigger battle that's about to come.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Confusion

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 4: Confusion

Suzie was at a complete loss as to what was going on. Nothing that day had been making any sense. Before it was Alex turning her back on her to hang out with the new exchange students at her school, and now her fellow Tamers were doing battle with Crusadermon, the knight that had saved her life twice. The battle had quickly begun with Gallantmon facing Apollomon while MegaGargomon and Sakuyamon took on Crusadermon and Rosemon respectively. The battle had only been going on for less than five minutes with Suzie watching with Lopmon and Calumon while Jeri called for backup.

"Okay. I managed to get ahold of Parker and Ryo." Jeri informed the three as she put away her phone. "They should hopefully be here pretty soon."

"What're we supposed to do until they get here?" Lopmon asked.

"All we can really do is watch." Jeri answered.

"Well that's not good enough for me!" Calumon declared. "Right now Takato and Gallantmon are in trouble. I have to help them!"

"But Calumon…" Jeri spoke.

"I know I'm not the strongest Digimon around, but I know I can help Gallantmon just a little." Calumon insisted. "Especially if you backed me up, Jeri. With the right modify cards, maybe I can give Gallantmon and edge."

"Well… okay." Jeri reluctantly agreed. "But please be careful, Calumon."

"Don't worry. I will." Calumon assured her, as he stood ready to fight.

From her pockets Jeri pulled out a set of what looked like trading cards along with an odd white D-Arc with a screen resembling Calumon's Zero Unit symbol. Jeri took a deep breath as she selected a card.

"Digi-Modify!" Jeri called out as she swiped a card through the side slot of her D-Arc. "Boltmon's Axe, activate!"

Jeri and the others looked expectantly at Calumon, waiting for the card's effects to kick in. But to their surprise, nothing happened. Meanwhile, Gallantmon used his shield to block another stream of flames shot from Apollomon's fireball. The knight moved his shield and raised his lance to attack, but suddenly the lance began to glow with a white light and changed into a large grey axe.

Gallantmon quickly noticed is unplanned change of weapon. "What the…? How did this happen?"

"Nice axe." Apollomon remarked. "But it's probably not a good idea to change weapons mid-battle."

Apollomon charged in and attempted to strike Gallantmon with a flame-covered punch. The white knight blocked the punch with his shield and swung his large axe at the lion warrior. Apollomon jumped back and easily evaded the attack.

"Uh, since when does Gallantmon use and axe?" Suzie asked down on the ground.

Jeri looked up at Gallantmon, then to the card she had just tried to use on Calumon and her D-Arc. She then looked back up at Gallantmon again as the situation began to sink in.

"Um… I think that modify card I used effected Gallantmon." Jeri realized.

"But how? Calumon's your partner." Suzie pointed out.

"Maybe it was a glitch?" Jeri theorized.

"There's one way to find out." Lopmon told her. "Try using another card and see what happens. Preferably something that would help Gallantmon."

"Okay." Jeri replied before pulling out another card. "Digi-Modify! Speed, activate!"

Gallantmon threw his large axe at Apollomon. Apollomon moved slightly to his right to avoid the attack and fired another stream of flames. Suddenly Gallantmon vanished and the flames struck the empty spot on the ground where the knight had been standing. A split second after the attack, a blast of energy struck Apollomon in the back from above. After taking a moment to recover, Apollomon turned and looked up to see Gallantmon hovering above with his reformed lance.

"How the hell did you do that?" Apollomon demanded to know.

"Good question." An equally confused Gallantmon replied.

Gallantmon glanced over to where Jeri and the others were and noticed that Jeri had a modify card in her hand. Jeri saw Gallantmon looking at her and responded with a shrug and a nervous smile. From within Gallantmon, Takato quickly deduced what had happened.

"This battle just keeps getting weirder." Gallantmon quietly remarked in Takato's voice. "Oh well. At least it looks like I have an edge over this guy."

Not far away, MegaGargomon was still doing battle with Crusadermon. The pink knight leapt forward, dodging a barrage of missiles that MegaGargomon had just fired, and delivered an explosive punch to the robot warrior's chest. After delivering the attack, Crusadermon flipped back into the air and landed atop the roof of a nearby building.

"I knew I was right not to trust you!" MegaGargomon told the pink knight. "But I want to know one thing. If you guys are Tamers, then why are you fighting us?"

"We're only acting under orders." Crusadermon coldly replied. "The organization we work for has classified you to be a threat. Which means we have no choice but to eliminate you by any means necessary."

"And just what organization do you three work for?" MegaGargomon asked.

"Sorry. But you have no need to know that." Crusadermon replied as it prepared to leap in for another attack.

Suddenly Crusadermon was struck in the back by several beams of red light that rained down from above. As the smoke cleared, Crusadermon turned around and saw that another Digimon was hovering not far away. It was a knight-like Digimon clad in white armor. He had large light-blue hands with red gemstones in the palms, and the golden tips of his boots like large claws. Small horns adorned the sides of his helmet, and on his back was a pair of tattered purple wings that made him look almost like a dragon. This was Wizardmon's Mega form, Dynasmon.

"It seems I've misjudged you, Crusadermon." Dynasmon spoke. "From what I had heard of you, I thought you were on the side of justice. But it seems I was mistaken. A pity."

"Pity this!" Crusadermon responded before leaping into the air to deliver a punch to Dynasmon.

Dynasmon quickly moved slightly and grabbed Crusadermon by the arm. He then flung the pink knight down into the roof of another building with enough force to leave a crater. After a moment, Crusadermon slowly began getting back to its feet.

"You're resilient, I'll give you that." Dynasmon remarked. "But I sense no passion in your heart. Without that, you will never defeat me."

"Shut up." Crusadermon responded before leaping back into the air.

Back on the ground Suzie continued to watch with Lopmon while Jeri continued to support Gallantmon. As they watched, a humanoid dragon with two pairs of red wings and a body covered in rubbery grey armor landed almost right next to them. Suzie and the others knew this Digimon as Cyberdramon. A red car then pulled up not far away from where they were all standing. Quickly exiting the driver's seat of the car was a brown-haired young man wearing a blue jacket. This was Cyberdramon's partner, Ryo Akiyama.

Exiting the back of the car was a girl and a boy that looked to be about fourteen. They both had brown hair and wore the same school uniform. These two were the youngest members of the Tamers, Ai and Mako.

"Sorry Cyberdramon and I are a bit late." Ryo told them as they approached. "I thought it'd be a good idea if I picked up Mako and Ai to help out."

"That's fine, but where's Impmon then?" Suzie asked.

"Don't worry. He'll show up." Ai assured them with a wink. "He just thought his way of getting here would be faster."

"Well, I guess now that I'm here, I should help Rika." Ryo spoke. "Let's go, Cyberdramon!"

Cyberdramon roared and Ryo's D-Arc let out a mechanized cry of one word. "BIOMERGE!"

Ryo turned into a ball of blue light and entered Cyberdramon's back.

"Cyberdramon biomerge digivolve to… Jusitmon!" the dragon called out as he transformed.

In a flash of blue light, Cyberdramon had changed into a man clad in a blue and white bodysuit with a silver mask. He had a mechanical right arm, and around his neck was a long flowing red scarf. With his transformation finished, Jusitmon leapt off to join the battle. Not far away he spotted Sakuyamon still doing battle with Rosemon on the roof of another building. Rosemon attempted to strike at Sakuyamon using the vine coiled around her right arm as a sword, but Sakuyamon easily blocked the attack with her golden staff.

"You're not bad at the whole fighting thing." Rosemon remarked with an arrogant smirk. "But the only way this can end is with your defeat. If you were smart, you'd give up now and save yourself some pain."

"In your dreams!" Sakuyamon told her as she swung her staff and fired a barrage of crystal cherry blossoms.

Rosemon quickly moved to the side and avoided Sakuyamon's attack. She then hit the fox priestess with a powerful storm of red rose petals. Sakuyamon was knocked back by the attack and flipped over onto her stomach.

"Well, this was certainly fun." Rosemon spoke as she calmly approached Sakuyamon. "But I'm afraid it's all over now. Don't worry though. Your friends will be along to join you in the afterlife soon."

Suddenly Justimon leapt in and struck Rosemon with a flying kick. Rosemon was knocked back several feet and nearly fell off the edge of the roof.

"Looks like I got here just in time." Justimon observed.

"Cutting it a little close there." Sakuyamon spoke as she got up.

"Sorry 'bout that." Justimon told her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sakuyamon answered. "Thanks."

"How dare you?" Rosemon angrily spoke as she got back to her feet. "Didn't your mother teach you that you shouldn't strike a lady?"

"Well yeah, but you don't look like a lady to me." Justimon responded.

"I'll make you pay for that!" Rosemon declared as she cracked one of her whips.

Justimon's mechanical forearm changed into a large box-like device with a red energy blade on the end. "Let's dance!"

Back where Suzie and the others were, Crusadermon was flung into a car near where they were standing, leaving a massive dent in the roof. Dynasmon and MegaGargomon advanced and fired another barrage of lasers and missiles, striking the pink knight and creating an explosion that destroyed what was left of the car. The smoke died down and Crusadermon was on its feet breathing heavily.

"Henry! Parker! That's enough!" Suzie called up to the two Digimon. "Crusadermon can't take much more! If you keep going…"

"Stay out of this!" Crusadermon interrupted. "I don't need you to help me out, pinky!"

"I would like to grant your request, Ms. Wong. But it's clear that Crusadermon has no intention of backing down." Dynasmon pointed out. "This battle will not end until one side is dead."

"But…" Suzie tried to argue. But before she could finish, Crusadermon leapt at MegaGargomon to attack again.

A few feet down the road, Apollomon was continuing his battle with Gallantmon. The white knight struck Apollomon in the stomach with another energy blast from his lance, knocking the lion warrior back almost two feet.

"What the heck is with you guys?" Gallantmon asked him. "Why is this group you're working for want to kill us?"

"It's because you rogue Tamers are nothing more than a group of vigilantes!" Apollomon told him. "It's only a matter of time before people like you try something that threatens the safety of the world. My team and I are the real heroes! And it's our duty to take you out!"

Just as Apollomon was about to launch another attack, a projectile struck him in the back and exploded. Apollomon turned around, and sitting atop a red motorcycle a few feet away was a humanoid figure clad in a black feather jacket with a dirty white-furred collar, along with a black pair of pants with spiked boots. He had a red bandanna tied around his left upper arm, and on his hands he wore black metal gloves. On his face he wore a dark purple mask that only revealed the light blue skin around his mouth, his spiky blond hair, and his red eyes, which included a third eye on his forehead. In his right hand, the demon held one of two shotguns he possessed.

"Beelzemon!" Gallantmon identified.

"Hope I'm not late for the party." Beelzemon spoke as he got off his bike. "Course from the looks of this chump, I don't know why I even bothered to show up."

"This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!" Apollomon told them. "How can a Digimon like this one be trusted as a hero to the public?"

"Hey, I don't claim to be no hero." Beelzemon told him as he approached. "I just like fightin'. And if the only guys around to fight are bad guys, that's fine with me. But since you wanna fight, I'm happy to take ya on."

With that, Beelzemon pulled out his other shotgun and began firing a barrage of bullets at Apollomon. Apollomon blocked the attack with a blast of flames shot from his fireball.

"Digi-Modify!" Jeri called out from down the road as she swiped another card. "Shadow Clone Spell, activate!"

Two clones of Gallantmon appeared on the battlefield. The three knights quickly surrounded Apollomon and blasted him from three sides with beams from their lances. Apollomon fell to his knees as the clones vanished.

"Here sis. You do the honors." Mako told Ai as he handed her their shared D-Arc.

"Thanks." Ai replied as she took the device and pulled out a card. "Digi-Modify! Demon's Chain, activate!"

Beelzemon quickly holstered his guns and a black flaming chain with a large hook on the end appeared in his hands. The demon biker swung the chain and snared Apollomon. With one strong tug, Beelzemon pulled the lion warrior in and punched him hard in the face. Apollomon landed on his back and Beelzemon pulled his guns back out, aiming them right over Apollomon's face.

"Say yer prayers, hero boy." Beelzemon spoke with a grin.

* * *

From a control room at SAINT headquarters lit with red light, Margo watched the battle between the D-Sentinels and the Tamers on three large video surveillance screens. Just below the platform where Margo stood, three female technicians sat at a set of control stations that received info from the three D-Sentinels' D-Arcs. Each control station also had a function that could inflict pain on the biomerged Digimon and its Tamer should they become disobedient. Though that function had never been used.

"Commander Lane. Apollomon's vitals are starting to fluctuate." One of the technicians reported. "I don't think he can survive another attack."

"Crusadermon's vitals are beginning to fluctuate too." Another one of the technicians reported.

"So are Rosemon's." the third technician reported.

"Damn!" Margo cursed. "Looks like we underestimate the Tamers. Deploy the retrieval teams and send out a drone to lay smoke cover! We're retreating."

* * *

"Beelzemon, wait!" Gallantmon called just as the demon lord was about to pull the trigger. "This guy isn't a normal Digimon! He's biomerged with his Tamer!"

"You think I give a shit?" the demon biker responded. "If I let this guy go, he's gonna come back and be a real pain in the ass. Besides, he might go after Ai and Mako. I can't risk them gettin' hurt because of this dirtbag."

"I hear what you're saying, but there's a better way to go about this." Gallantmon told him. "Just put away your guns!"

Before the two could debate the point any further, a black aerial drone flew over and covered the entire area in a cloud of thick black smoke. Beelzemon felt Apollomon punch him in the jaw. By the time the smoke finally cleared, Apollomon was nowhere in sight. With the battle obviously at an end, Beelzemon holstered his guns and snapped his fingers, causing his bike to drive off by itself and vanish through a portal of flames. As Beelzemon began walking with Gallantmon to where Suzie and the others were, he regressed back to his Rookie form of Impmon. Gallantmon too split back into the pair of Takato and Guilmon. By the time the three of them reached Suzie and the others, the rest of the Mega level Digimon of the Tamers returned and split back into their human Digimon pairs.

"Anyone care to explain what the hell that was about?" Parker asked.

"One thing's for sure. We should definitely tell Yamaki about this." Takato decided.

"Ya think, goggle head?" Rika sarcastically asked. "He's probably sending a bunch of black vans to get us right now."

Sure enough, three black unmarked vans arrived after only a few moments to retrieve the Tamers. After driving through the city for a few minutes, the group was brought to the headquarters of Hypnos, an organization that over time had become an organization meant to monitor Digimon and provide support to the Tamers if necessary. After spending several minutes telling the people at Hypnos about the battle, the Tamers were asked to wait in a too familiar boardroom. After waiting for what seemed like almost three hours, the Tamers were finally met with the head of Hypnos, Mitsuo Yamaki.

"About time you showed up." Rika complained as Yamaki entered the room.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Yamaki replied. "I've been on the phone contacting just about every government contact I know. As far as they know, no government has any idea about these 'D-Sentinels' you fought today."

"So they're not with some government agency that wants to kill us?" Ryo asked.

"At least not with a government agency that will admit it." Yamaki answered. "I'm going to keep digging, of course. But it was probably only a matter of time before something like this happened. In recent years there have been a few private organizations interested in using Digimon for military purposes. It's likely that the group you faced was from one of those organizations."

"Makes pretty good sense, when you think about it." Parker remarked. "Digimon would be the ultimate weapons in any army, and Tamers would be the perfect soldiers."

"On that note, Tamers like all of you and an organization like mine also pose a threat to those organizations." Yamaki added. "That's most likely why that group attacked you today."

"Just hold on a minute!" Suzie interrupted. "I can't believe that Crusadermon is an enemy."

"Were you even paying attention to that battle?" Henry asked in a harsh tone. "That Digimon tired to kill me and Terriermon, not to mention Parker and Wizardmon!"

"I know that! But I also know that Crusadermon saved my life twice in the last few days!" Suzie argued.

"That's probably because he didn't know you were a Tamer." Henry argued. "If he did, you probably wouldn't be standing here right now."

"Actually, Crusadermon saw me with Suzie both times when she was attacked." Lopmon pointed out. "He's probably figured out that I'm Suzie's partner."

"Looks like he got you there, Henry." Terriermon told him.

"If that's the case, then we can probably assume that Crusadermon and the rest of his team don't consider Suzie to be a threat." Yamaki assumed.

"That's true. Suzie is the weakest one in our group." Mako remarked.

"Yeah, even Kazu and Kenta are stronger than she is." Ai teasing added.

"Hey!" Suzie protested. "Okay, so maybe Lopmon and I aren't that strong. But I'm sure that Crusadermon can't be an enemy."

"Will you grow up already?" Henry snapped. "That wasn't some mock battle we were all fighting today! When are you going to start taking things seriously?"

"Lay off, Henry!" Rika cut in. "I don't blame Suzie for feeling the way she does. How would you like it if you were betrayed by someone you trusted and looked up to?"

"Okay, okay. Let's all just cool off, people." Parker calmly interrupted as he stood from his chair. "We've all had a pretty intense afternoon, and our fed buddy didn't help by having us interrogated and making us wait in this boardroom for hours. Right now the best thing we can all do is go home and get some rest."

"I've already arranged transportation to take you all home." Yamaki informed them. "In the meantime, you should probably all be prepared to fight those D-Sentinels again."

"Good thing we have an edge over those guys, thanks to Jeri being able to use modify cards on Gallantmon." Calumon interjected.

"Yeah, that sure was a big help." Takato agreed. "But it was kinda weird."

"Jeri's D-Arc was originally the Sword of Yggdrasill." Wizardmon reminded them. "It probably contains other special powers like the one used today."

"I'm just glad I was able to help out instead of watching." Jeri spoke.

"Guess this means that Suzie really is the only useless one now." Mako quietly remarked to Ai.

"Little jerk." Suzie mumbled under her breath.

* * *

Suzie walked through the halls of Hypnos HQ alone looking for Rika. Her father was going to be the one to take her home since he worked in the office, but it was going to be at least ten more minutes before he was ready to go. And since Rika and Ryo were still waiting for transport as well, Suzie thought it would be a good idea to thank Rika for sticking up for her during the meeting. Suzie had been searching the building for some time and had not been able to find Rika. Eventually she came across a closet door that was open a crack and heard Rika's voice from inside.

Quietly, Suzie went up to the closet door and peeked inside to see if Rika was really in there. What Suzie saw through the crack made her eyes widen. Rika was indeed in the closet, but she was not wearing a shirt or a bra. The brown-haired girl was also bent over and holding onto the sides of a metal shelf, moaning as something repeatedly rammed into her from behind. It didn't take long for Suzie to figure out that Ryo was in the closet with Rika and that they were having sex.

Suzie found herself mesmerized by the bouncing motion of Rika's breasts. She had never before taken the time to notice how beautiful Rika was. And Rika truly was beautiful. Suzie found that she couldn't keep her eyes off her. After a few moments, rational thought finally returned and Suzie realized that she was watching something that she shouldn't being seeing. Quietly but quickly, Suzie backed away from the door and started to head down the hallway. When she turned a corner, she let out a surprised yelp when Renamon suddenly popped up in front of her. It always unsettled Suzie a bit the way the yellow fox would just appear when she least expected it.

"Something wrong, Suzie?" Renamon asked.

"Uh, hi Renamon!" Suzie nervously responded. "I was just, uh… looking for Lopmon, that's it. Do you know where he is?"

Renamon looked at Suzie intently with her icy blue eyes. "…I saw him in the boardroom with your brother and Terriermon."

"Oh… okay." Suzie replied. "Well, I should probably meet up with them now. I'm sure they're waiting for me."

"Are you okay?" Renamon asked.

"Fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Suzie asked. "Oh, tell Rika I said thanks for sticking up for me earlier."

"I will." Renamon replied, still staring at her with those eyes that seemed to look into her very soul.

Suzie calmly went past Renamon and made her way to the boardroom. As she walked off, she could swear she felt the fox's eyes burning a hole in the back of her skull.

* * *

_Suzie stood alone in the middle of an octagonal fighting cage wearing a pair of fingerless black gloves along with an off-white tank top and pink short shorts. Outside the walls of the cage were bleachers, but they were completely empty. Suzie found that she had no memory of how she had gotten in the cage and no clue why she was even there. The door to the cage suddenly opened up and Rika walked in wearing a sleeveless blue top that showed her midriff, revealing a set of toned abs, along with her own pair of fingerless gloves and a pair of black short shorts._

_Rika walked up to Suzie and took a fighting stance. "You better give me a good fight."_

_"Uh, I'll do my best." Suzie nervously replied as she took a stance of her own._

_Rika swung her right fist at Suzie, but the pinkette managed to weave out of the way and struck Rika in the chest with her own light punch. To Suzie's surprise, Rika's top suddenly tore itself to shreds. It was as if she was suddenly in one of those anime shows that appealed to guys where girls would fight each other and their clothing would spontaneously rip apart with the lightest blow. Suzie was caught off guard by seeing Rika's naked breasts. Rika used this to her advantage and struck Suzie in the chest with her left fist. Suzie's top self destructed, revealing her own nude chest._

_"What kind of fight is this?" Suzie asked as she attempted to cover herself._

_"You're kidding, right? This is strip ultimate fighting." Rika told her. "And by the way, you're wide open."_

_Before Suzie could fully react, Rika struck her in the hip with a roundhouse kick. Suzie managed to keep herself from falling over, but her shorts were instantly destroyed. She was now completely naked besides her gloves and the shoes she was wearing._

_"Looks like I win." Rika said with a triumphant smirk. "Now to claim my prize."_

_Suddenly Rika turned Suzie around and pushed her against the wall of the cage. Her left hand began fondling Suzie's left breast while her right hand snaked its way down to the younger girl's moist womanhood. The pinkette waited eagerly for Rika's fingers to penetrate her._

Suzie's eyes snapped open and she shot up in her bed. She quickly realized that her little fight with Rika was simply another dream. Lopmon was still sound asleep in his little bed. Looking at the clock on her nightstand, Suzie found that if was only 5:18 in the morning. She sighed heavily, fell back, and put her right arm over her eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Suzie quietly wondered.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I pretty much came up with some of my own modify cards to use for the battle in this chapter. I kinda had to since I don't really remember a lot of the cards from the Digimon card game. Plus cards from that game are kinda hard to look up since the game no longer exists. At least not as far as I know. The shadow clone card Jeri used on Gallantmon was a result of the Naruto reruns I've been watching on Saturday nights.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	5. Awakening Dreams

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 5: Awakening Dreams

_Alex was standing in the middle of a dreary grey beach under an equally grey twilight sky. Expending outward before her was a seemingly endless ocean filled with pitch-black water. The air was thick with an unpleasant scent that was a mixture of salt air and dead fish. As far as Alex could tell, she was completely alone on that depressing grey beach. There was what looked like a small village in the distance to her right, but from where she was it looked like the houses and buildings of that village had been abandoned for years._

_As Alex tried to recall how she had ended up on that beach, she suddenly heard croaking noises coming from all around her. She turned around to see five creatures emerging from the large rocks that were on the beach. They were roughly humanoid, but Alex couldn't tell much about them since they seemed to be like shadows. The only feature that Alex could make out on the horrid things was their glassy sunken eyes. From their outline, Alex could at least tell that the creatures were like some kind of blasphemous combination of fish and frog._

_The creatures slowly began to advance on Alex, speaking something in their hideous croaking tongue. Alex began to back away in horror until she heard a loud splashing noise coming from behind her. She turned and saw that seven more of the foul creatures had emerged from the water. They had surrounded her without her realizing it. Alex shut her eyes and tried to prepare for the worst as the creatures closed in._

Alex shot up in bed with a gasp, cold sweat dripping from her brow. She looked at the clock on her nightstand and saw that it was only 5: 47 AM, but there was little chance of her getting back to sleep. She never could after having one of those dreams.

From his little corner of the room, Kotemon awoke from his own sleep. "You okay Alex?"

"Yeah… I'm fine." Alex told him.

"You had one of those beach dreams again, didn't you?" Kotemon deduced. "Did those monsters try and attack you again."

"They always do." Alex replied. "But at least that octopus-headed thing wasn't there this time."

"That probably is a good sign." Kotemon agreed. "Still, this is the first time you've had that dream in awhile. Maybe you should talk to the commander about seeing a therapist."

"Like hell." Alex told him. "You know that those therapists working for SAINT aren't exactly warm and friendly. Besides, I can handle these nightmares. I always have in the past."

"I don't know. I think it's a bad sign that you keep having dreams like this." Kotemon told her.

"You worry too much." Alex told him before falling back onto the bed. "Now go back to sleep."

"Okay. But we really should do something about this eventually." Kotemon said before shutting his eyes.

Alex closed her eyes and attempted to go back to sleep, but it was starting to seem more and more like sleep was out of reach. Then an image of Suzie suddenly popped into her mind. The pinkette had been dominating her thoughts for days now. But as Alex thought about Suzie, she suddenly found herself drifting back to sleep.

* * *

It was a little before 6:00 AM as Margo walked towards headquarters. Being a high-ranking officer, Magro had chosen to live off base and stay in a hotel. The accommodations at the base were far too cramped for her liking. As Margo neared the building, she was suddenly hit by the strong scent of salt air and dead fish. She turned and saw a swirling black vortex open up across the street. Flying out of the vortex were five creatures that looked like the kind of white sheet ghost that kids would dress up as for Halloween. Only these ghosts had fanged mouths and beady black eyes. Margo recognized these creatures from files she had read as a species of Digimon called Bakemon.

Soon after the Bakemon appeared, another figured stepped out of the vortex. He was a handsome-looking gentleman with chalk-white skin and long blonde hair. The top half of his face was covered by a unique red mask with ends shaped like batwings. The man's outfit consisted of a black tuxedo with a red cummerbund. Across his torso he wore a red sash with gold trim, and on his hands he wore a pair of white gloves. Hanging from his neck by a gold chain was a large golden medallion with a ruby gem in the center, and on his back he wore a blood-red cape with a high collar.

The masked man began to look around as the vortex closed behind him. "Well, it seems this city has done a good job of rebuilding itself since the last time I was here. I'll have to do something about that later."

"Hey!" Margo called, getting the masked man's attention. "What the devil are you?"

"It seems that someone is here to witness my return." The masked man observed. "Allow me to introduce myself, my dear. I am CountMyotismon. I do say that you look quite lovely. I'm quite fortunate to have come across a gem such as you."

"Cut the flattery." Margo told him. "I don't exactly what kind of Digimon you are or what you're after, but I'm going to put a stop to this right now."

Margo pulled out her phone, but in a flash CountMyotismon was suddenly in front of her and grabbed her arm. The phone dropped out of her hand and hit the sidewalk was a clack.

"Surly there's no need to involve the authorities." CountMyotismon told her. "You should relax and enjoy yourself. Look into my eyes."

Margo was about to protest, but suddenly found herself transfixed on the masked Digimon's blue and green eyes. There was something about them that Margo couldn't describe, but she found herself getting lost in them. With Margo completely mesmerized, CountMyotismon grinned and revealed his sharp incisor fangs. The vampire bit down on her neck and began draining her blood. As Margo's blood was being drained, red glowing marks resembling circuit paths appeared all over her skin and her eyes began to glow red. When CountMyotismon finished, the marks disappeared and Margo's unconscious body fell to the ground.

"That was a good breakfast." CountMyotismon declared as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "And now I have a servant in this world that could prove useful to me."

"What is our next move, my lord?" one of the Bakemon asked.

"Now we begin planning my revenge against the Tamers." CountMyotismon answered. "And if I'm right, one of them possesses the power of Yggdrasill. The same power that was used to defeat me the last time I was here. I will have that power one way or another and use it to become master of all worlds!"

* * *

Suzie walked to school alone with Lopmon as her only companion. The night before during a rather late dinner, Suzie had somehow talked her father and Henry into letting her walk to and from school unescorted again with Lopmon's help. Lopmon had reminded the two of the point Yamaki had made during the meeting about the D-Sentinels seeming to view Suzie as a low priority target. That argument had swayed Suzie's father, and had agreed that Suzie was probably safe traveling between school and home with Lopmon as her only escort. Though Suzie had to promise a hundred times to call Henry or the others if something bad happen.

Despite her triumph of no longer having to be escorted around like a five-year-old, Suzie was quite troubled. Her erotic dream about Rika weighed heavily on her mind. It was one thing to have been having dreams like that about Jeri almost every night. Suzie had always assumed that those dreams had something to do with something Jeri had done while possessed by Myotismon during the Crimson Plague incident. But now that Rika had appeared in one of the dreams, Suzie had to ask herself a very big question. Was she really attracted to girls?

Looking back over her life, Suzie had always been a fairly normal girl. Like other girls she had been interested in things like clothes, makeup, and of course shopping. But she had never been all that concerned about getting a boyfriend. Every now and than, some of her friends would show her some boy that they considered to be hot. And she would agree that the guy in question was fairly attractive. But there had never been any guy whose pants she really wanted to get into. Suzie had always assumed that she had never found the right guy, but maybe the reality was that she just wasn't into guys at all. Suzie couldn't help but feel like she was some kind of freak.

"Hey Suzie?" Lopmon spoke.

"What is it?" Suzie asked, her mind still very much on other things.

"We are going to school today, right?" the rabbit Digimon asked.

"Yeah, why?" Suzie answered.

"Well then shouldn't we have turned that corner a few blocks back?" Lopmon asked.

Suize was finally snapped from her thoughts and suddenly found that she had walked right past the route that took her to school. What was even worse was that she had just walked into one of the seedier parts of the city.

"Jeez Lopmon! Why didn't you say anything?" Suzie asked.

"I did like three times." Lopmon answered. "You didn't seem to hear me."

"Dammit! Now I'm going to be late!" Suzie exclaimed as she frantically hurried back towards school.

Suzie didn't get more than two steps before three young men emerged from the door of a building that looked like some kind of bar. The men all looked like they could be in college, though from the way they were dressed and the fact that they had probably just come out of a bar suggested to Suzie that they weren't exactly university material.

"Well hey there, little lady." The leader of the three hooligans spoke upon noticing Suzie. "You lost or somethin'?"

"Go away. I have to get to school." Suzie told them as she attempted to walk past.

"Hey now." The leader of the hooligans told her as he blocked her path. "Why not just hang out with us for awhile? I'm sure my buddies and I can teach you a few things that they don't teach in any school."

"Yeah, lots of things." The second of the hooligans agreed while the third snickered.

"You three better get lost right now!" Lopmon warned as he jumped off Suzie's shoulder. "I don't want to have to get physical with you guys!"

"What're you gonna do, little bunny? Easter Egg us to death?" the third hooligan asked mockingly.

"Hey!" a familiar voice called. Suzie looked past the hooligans and saw Alex standing a few feet away. "Leave the girl alone, now!"

"Beat it, you little punk." The leader of the hooligans told her. "Can't you see we're busy?"

Alex responded by charging in and hitting the hooligan leader with a flying kick to the face. The young man fell to the ground on his back unconscious. The second of the hooligans attempted to punch Alex in the face, but the redhead easily ducked out of the way and landed a hard punch to the young man's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Alex hit the thug with an uppercut to the chin and knocked him out.

"Why you son of a…!" the remaining hooligan began to curse as he raised his fist.

Alex delivered a swift kick to the hooligan's crotch, followed quickly by a roundhouse kick to his side. With the young man down on all fours, Alex kicked him in the head to knock him out. Suzie and Lopmon stood there with their jaws hanging open in amazement.

"Well, that sure made me look ineffective." Lopmon remarked.

"You okay?" Alex asked Suzie.

After a moment, Suzie remembered that she was still mad at Alex. "Yeah… I'm fine."

"We should go before these guys wake up." Alex suggested.

Suzie stormed past Alex with Lopmon and headed back towards school. Alex tried to keep up, but Suzie was doing a good job of staying five steps ahead of her.

"Do you mind slowing down?" Alex requested. "It makes it kinda hard to talk to you."

"Wouldn't you rather be talking to those to friends of yours?" Suzie responded. "I thought I was nothing more than some annoying girl."

"…I'm sorry I said that." Alex told her. "I didn't mean a word of it."

Suzie turned around to argue, but the expression on Alex's face caught her totally off guard. The redheaded tomboy had a sad look in her eyes that Suzie did not expect at all.

"Well… if you didn't mean any of that stuff, than why did you say it?" Suzie asked.

"Because I didn't want to risk Richard and Sandra finding out that you were a Tamer." Alex explained. "If they did, well… let's just say that it wouldn't be good."

"What's that mean?" Suzie asked.

"I want to tell you, but not here." Alex answered. "Would you be willing to meet with me tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night?" Suzie asked with a slight look of surprise.

"Yeah, there's this place to eat that I know about that's pretty good." Alex continued, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head as she talked. "If you like, we can have dinner there and I can tell you what my connection to Richard and Sandra is."

"Um… okay." Suzie agreed. "Dinner sounds good."

"Well now that that's settled, let's get going." Alex spoke as she started to walk again. "Stick close to me this time. You seem to have a knack for getting in danger."

Suzie paused for a moment upon hearing what Alex said. She remembered that Crusadermon had told her something similar during the battle with Cerberumon. Suzie quickly shook it off as nothing more than coincidence though and moved to catch up with Alex.

* * *

CountMyotismon had watched Suzie's encounter with the hooligans from a rooftop with two of his Bakemon servants. As he had watched the incident unfold, an idea had quickly formed in his wicked mind.

"It seems I may have found the perfect way to draw out the Tamers." CountMyotismon spoke to his two minions. "I'll simply capture little Suzie and use her as bait."

"Are you going to try and turn her as well, my lord?" one of the Bakemon asked.

"We shall see." CountMyotismon answered with a fanged grin. "If I do, I'll have to use some creative methods to seduce her. In this form, I'm not exactly her type."

* * *

_Suzie ran as fast as her legs could carry her towards the school. Flying after her was a large dragon-like Digimon with four red eyes and clad in a black bodysuit, a Devidramon. The landscape around her was completely grey, and no matter how fast she ran the school seemed to get further and further away. Suddenly she tripped and fell to the ground. Just as Devidramon was about to move in for the kill, a fast-moving pink object flew in and punched the demon dragon in the snout, causing it to explode._

_With the dragon destroyed, a breeze blow through carrying the petals of cherry blossoms. Suzie got to her feet and saw that it was Crusadermon that had destroyed the dragon. But as the pink knight turned around, it turned into Alex. The redhead was wearing a loose white buttoned-up shirt with long sleeves and a pair of tight-fitting jeans._

_"Are you okay?" Alex asked as she walked up._

_"Uh, yeah. I'm fine." Suzie answered._

_"Good." Alex responded before gently taking her by the chin. "You know you're very important to me."_

_Alex captured Suzie's lips in a deep passionate kiss. When the kiss eventually ended, Suzie suddenly found that they had somehow ended up together on a bed covered with rose petals. And they were both naked._

_"Uh, Alex? You do know we're both girls, right?" Suzie asked._

_"So?" Alex responded before leaning in and gave the pinkette another deep kiss on the lips._

_Suzie suddenly found that she no longer cared about gender. In fact she no longer really cared about anything at all. She was simply too lost in pleasure to do so. The two girls eventually broke apart of air, and Alex moved down to suck on Suzie's left breast. As Suzie moaned and arched her back, Alex slowly brought right hand down towards Suzie's wet entrance._

Suzie's eyes shot open and she shot straight up in bed. Her face had turned a deep shade of red. She found that her heart was pounding hard in her chest. Of all the erotic dreams featuring women Suzie had experienced, the one she had just had was by far the best. The dream caused Suzie to pause and consider how she felt about Alex. She recalled how drawn she was to the redhead when she first saw her, though that was back when she thought Alex was a guy. But she also thought about how she enjoyed simply being around Alex, and how hurt she felt when Alex lied about her to Richard and Sandra.

"Suzie?" a soft and familiar voice spoke. The pinkette looked and saw that Lopmon had woken up. "You okay?"

"Lopmon…" Suzie began. "You'll probably think I'm weird for saying this, but… I think I might be in love with Alex."

* * *

**Author's Note:** To those reading who are confused about how Myotismon is back and in a new form, the answer lies in my last Digimon story, _Child of Hope and Light_. Anyway, Alex's dream of a very familiar place in the Digimon franchise will play a fairly important role later on. The answer to why the "octopus-headed thing" wasn't in her dream of course lies in my first story, _Home by the Sea_. But just because "that thing" is no longer around at this point the series, doesn't mean that the creatures that ganged up on Alex are gone too.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	6. The Knight Unmasked

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 6: The Knight Unmasked

Suzie had finally told Lopmon about her feelings for Alex. She had also told him about how she had been having erotic dreams about Jeri, and most recently Rika and Alex. After the last dream about Alex, Suzie felt that she had to tell someone about the feelings she had been having. As it turned out, the little rabbit Digimon had been very understanding about the whole thing. Lopmon did not judge Suzie or tell her that she was weird, which was what Suzie had feared would happen. Of course Suzie was certain that her human friends and family wouldn't be as understanding.

The evening came, and Suzie found herself feeling very nervous about her little dinner date with Alex. She had spent two whole hours trying to decide on an outfit. Eventually she settled on a pink t-shirt that had the head of a black cartoon cat on the front with a white jacket and a short purple skit, along with a pair of white sneakers with purple socks.

"I don't know." Suzie spoke, as she looked herself over in the mirror. "Lopmon, are you sure this outfit is good enough?"

"For the fifth time, you look fine." Lopmon assured her from the foot of the bed. "Try not to worry so much."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Suzie sighed. "I don't know why I'm freaking out about this so much. It's not like this is a real date or anything. Besides… I'm still not even sure if I really am in love with Alex. And even if I am, I'm pretty sure she doesn't feel the same way."

"There's one way to find out how she feels about you. Why no ask her?" Lopmon suggested.

"Are you kidding? Alex would probably just think I'm weird." Suzie assumed.

"You don't know that for sure." Lopmon pointed out. "Heck, she might even return your feelings."

"Maybe, but… I'm just too afraid that Alex would think I'm a freak or something." Suzie replied. "If she did, she probably wouldn't want anything to do with me. I just don't think I can handle that."

"Well you don't have to ask her about it tonight. Just do it when you think you're ready." Lopmon told her. "And even Alex does reject you in the end, you'll still always have me."

"Thanks, Lopmon." Suzie told him. She glanced at her nightstand and noticed the time on the clock. "Well, we should probably get out to the living room. Alex should be here any minute now."

Suzie went out of the living room with Lopmon perched on her shoulder. Sitting out on the living room couch reading the evening paper was Suzie's father, Janyu Wong.

Upon noticing Suzie's arrival, Janyu put down is paper and looked her over. "Well, I see you're ready to go out with your friend."

"Yeah, she should be here pretty soon." Suzie replied, hoping that her father wouldn't ask her to go back and change into a longer skirt.

Suddenly there was knock at the door, prompting Janyu to get up and answer it. He opened the door and found Alex standing on the other side wearing a loose light blue long-sleeved shirt with buttons and a pair of black jeans.

"Good evening, sir." Alex greeted. "I'm Alex O'Hara, Suzie's friend. I assume she's in?"

Janyu looked back at his daughter. "Suzie, you didn't say that this friend you were meeting was a boy."

"She's not, dad." Suzie assured him.

"I'm really not, sir." Alex told him. "Practically everyone makes that mistake about me because of how I dress. It's no big deal though."

"Oh…" Janyu replied as he took a closer look at Alex. "Well, never mind then. Suzie, I want you back home no later than 10:00."

"Okay dad. See ya." Suzie replied before walking through the door with Lopmon.

In moments, Suzie and Alex were out of the apartment building and heading towards the place where they were going to have dinner. A sort of awkward silence hung over them as they walked. Suzie kept wondering about what Alex might be thinking about. The redhead always seemed to be so aloof, so it was difficult to guess how she actually felt about certain things.

"Uh, I hope you don't mind Lopmon coming with us." Suzie spoke, finally breaking the silence.

"It's fine. Not like this is a date or anything." Alex indifferently replied.

Suzie was stung a bit by Alex's last remark. Yet she already knew that they weren't on an actual date to begin with. Even so, it seemed to confirm Suzie's fear that Alex only saw her as a friend.

"…Mind if I ask you something?" Suzie asked after a moment. "How come you don't like wearing skirts? Do you just think they're too girl for you, or what?"

"Well… I guess that's part of the reason." Alex admitted. "But you know that flying kick like the one I used on that one guy who tried putting the moves on you yesterday? Wearing a skirt while doing a move like that makes it easy for people to see your underwear."

"Oh… yeah, I guess it would." Suzie agreed, blushing at the idea of someone getting a look at her panties if she used a kick like that. Though she found she was also blushing at the idea of seeing Alex's undergarments mid-flying kick. "But hold on, where exactly did you learn to fight like that?"

"That's actually one of the things I wanted to talk to you about over dinner." Alex answered. "But let's wait until we get the restaurant. It shouldn't be long."

"Oh, okay." Suzie replied.

* * *

CountMyotismon watched from just down the street as Suzie and Alex headed for the restaurant. He turned around, and with a wave of his hand a large black vortex appeared behind him. Emerging from the vortex was a large living elephant skeleton made out of metal. On its skull was a golden mask with large purple feathers on the sides in place of ears and a grey mechanical trunk. The eye sockets of the elephant's skull glowed with red lights, and in the middle of its ribcage was a large red orb.

"SkullMammothmon reporting as ordered, my lord." The elephant skeleton spoke.

"Capture that girl with pink hair and bring her to me alive." CountMyotismon ordered. "Get the Lopmon with her too, if you can."

"As you command." SkullMammothmon replied.

* * *

Suzie and Alex neared the place where they were going to have dinner. It had only taken them twenty minutes to get there on foot. Just as they were about to reach the door, the ground began to shake and they heard the sounds of something large stampeding towards them. They turned around and saw SkullMammothmon coming at them like a runaway train. Other people on the street ran off as the living elephant skeleton barreled down the road.

Before Suzie or Alex could get away, SkullMammothmon grabbed Suzie with his trunk and lifted her into the air. Lopmon ended up falling off Suzie's shoulder as she was grabbed. Suzie tried to pull herself free of the undead elephant's grip, but the creature was far too strong.

"Dammit!" Alex cursed. "Of all the times for this to happen…"

"Alex, go try and get help!" Lopmon told her. "I'll try and do what I can, but…"

"Kotemon!" Alex called before the brown rabbit could finish.

Kotemon suddenly emerged from a small bush along the sidewalk. "You called Alex?"

"We have to save Suzie!" Alex told him as she pulled out her D-Arc. "Let's go!"

Kotemon nodded and Alex's D-Arc gave out a familiar mechanized cry. "BIOMERGE!"

In moments, Alex turned into an orb of pink light and entered Kotemon. Suzie and Lopmon were both stunned as the little reptile Digimon transformed in Crusadermon.

The pink knight jumped into the air towards SkullMammothmon and began to spin around like a top. "Spiral Masquerade!"

The ribbon-like blades on Crusadermon's armor struck the undead elephant's trunk, causing him to cry out and drop Suzie. The knight quickly moved and caught Suzie before she hit the ground. Crusadermon set Suzie down on the ground next Lopmon.

"Alex, is that really you in there?" Suzie asked.

"I'll explain everything later." Crusadermon answered in Alex's voice. "Right now I need to take down that giant fossil."

SkullMammothmon roared and reared back on its hind legs. Crusadermon turned around and leapt back into the air at the undead beast. The knight struck the red orb in the center of the SkullMammothmon's ribcage with an exploding punch, causing it to shatter. The skeleton's eye sockets went dark and its body collapsed into a pile of bones. As the bones shattered into particles of data, Crusadermon walked back towards Suzie and Lopmon, splitting back into Alex and Kotemon in the process.

"Alex, you're…" Suzie began to say.

"I didn't want you to find out this way." Alex told her. "But I am one of the D-Sentinels. And I was in the battle the other day."

"But… how can this be?" Suzie asked.

"We should talk about this somewhere else." Alex suggested. "Right now we need to leave before the cops get here."

* * *

CountMyotismon had watched the battle between Crusadermon and SkullMammothmon from the roof of a nearby building. His plan had been completely ruined. He never expected that Suzie's dinner companion would be another Tamer, let alone a Tamer that could biomerge with her Digimon into a powerful knight.

"Damn!" CountMyotismon cursed. "I should've gone after the girl myself."

"You did indeed make a grave miscalculation, CountMyotismon." A deep voice spoke. The vampire lord turned around to see Gabriel standing a few feet away. "Had you taken a closer look into Ms. Lane's mind when you infected her, you would've known that the Tamer who protected Ms. Wong was one of my human soldiers."

"Who the hell are you?" CountMyotismon demanded to know. "And how do you know who I am?"

"I know many things, including some of what's gone on in the other human world." Gabriel answered. "As for who I am, you may address me as Gabriel Bishop."

"So what is it that you want from me?" CountMyotismon asked.

"I've come to make you a proposal." Gabriel explained. "One that would work out well for the both of us. An alliance, you could say."

"What sort of alliance?" the vampire lord asked with suspicion.

"Come with me to my office and we can discuss it more detail." Gabriel requested. "I'm sure you'll find that I can be a great deal of help to you."

* * *

Suzie and Alex had made it to a park down the street with Lopmon and Kotemon. As soon as they had gotten there, they went to a park bench so Suzie could sit down. Alex meanwhile leaned against a tree.

"You probably have a lot of questions for me." Alex assumed.

"You bet I do." Suzie confirmed. "How can you be one of the D-Sentinels? What are the D-Sentinels anyway?"

"I guess that's a good a place to start as any." Alex replied. "The D-Sentinels are a group of Tamers managed by an organization founded by the U.S. government called SAINT. Ever since Digimon began emerging in the human world, SAINT's objective has been to capture rogue Digimon, study them, and use them for military purposes. All for the sake of protecting global peace."

"How did you end up with a group like that?" Suzie asked.

"When I was seven, my mother abandoned me on the streets of Ireland." Alex began. "I had no father to speak of, and my mother barely had enough money to take care of herself let alone me. So I was left to fend for myself. After spending almost a month on the street, I met Kotemon and wound up becoming his partner."

"I had kind of wandered into the human world by accident." Kotemon interjected. "Alex was living in a cardboard box when I found her. I was the one who ended up taking care of her for awhile."

"A few months after I met Kotemon, an agent of SAINT found me and offered to take me in." Alex continued. "The catch was that I had to become a soldier for them, but I really didn't have any other options. I was one of several orphaned kids who had become Tamers that SAINT had taken in. We were all trained in physical combat and to be the best Tamers we could be. Tamers like myself who gained the ability to biomerge with our Digimon and unlock their Mega forms are among the most elite."

"So those two new students at our school, Richard and Sarndra. They're the other two members of your team, aren't they?" Suzie deduced.

"That's right." Alex confirmed. "Richard was about ten when he joined the organization. He had ran away from an abusive father and wound up meeting his partner Coronamon sometime after. Sandra was twelve when she joined up after meeting her partner, Palmon. Before that, she was some kind of juvenile delinquent. But those two are more committed to working for SAINT than I am. I'm just working for them in order to survive."

"So… what about attacking my friends the other day?" Suzie asked.

"SAINT views the Tamers here in Tokyo as a threat." Alex answered. "So my team has been ordered to eliminate any Tamer we come across. That's why I gave you the cold shoulder at lunch that day. I didn't want to risk Richard and Sandra finding out who you were. If they knew that you're a Tamer, they wouldn't hesitate to take you out."

"So you were protecting me." Suzie realized. "But why have you been? If the Tamers here in Tokyo are your enemy, then why haven't you tried to kill me?"

"…I honestly have no idea." Alex answered. "There's just something about you that I can't quite put my finger on. But ever since that day when I saw you being attacked by that Devitamamon, I've wanted to protect you."

"Then… you really do like me." Suzie responded, her face turning a bit red. "But… if you really like me that much, how can you be trying to kill my friends? One of the Digimon you tried to destroy that day was my older brother and his partner."

"I don't have a choice." Alex told her as she turned away. "This is just how it is. SAINT gives me an order and I have to follow it, no matter what my personal feelings are."

"You do have a choice." Suzie told her. "You could leave SAINT and join me and my friends."

"I wish it were that simple. But SAINT isn't an organization you can just walk away from." Alex told her. "You know those other orphaned Tamers I mentioned? Well not all of them made the cut. Those who were too weak were killed and their Digimon were destroyed. If Kotemon and I tried to leave, SAINT would do the same thing to us."

"But… there has to be a way for you to get out!" Suzie insisted.

"I'm afraid there isn't." Alex told her. "As much as it sucks, this is the way it has to be. The best thing you can do is to try and forget you ever met me."

"I can't do that." Suzie told her.

"Yeah… I'm not sure I can do that either." Alex admitted. "But like it or not, we're enemies. The next time I run into your brother and friends, I'll have no choice but to try and kill them. You and I are just going to have to deal with it. Let's go, Kotemon."

With that, Alex and Kotemon headed out of the park. Suzie thought about going after them, but found that she couldn't. It didn't seem like it would do any good. At that moment though, Suzie wanted more than anything for Alex to come back to her.

* * *

CountMyotismon followed Gabriel into his office at SAINT headquarters after taking a little tour of the facility. The vampire lord couldn't help but be impressed by Gabriel's operation, especially the fact that he had his own little army of Tamers working for him. Yet CountMyotismon knew that the one-eyed man obviously had some ulterior motive for proposing an alliance between them.

"So what do you think of my little organization?" Gabriel asked as he sat behind his desk.

"I must admit that it's quite impressive." CountMyotismon admitted. "It's actually quite amusing that your underlings think they're serving the United States government when they're actually working for your own private little company."

"I knew someone like you would appreciate that." Gabriel replied. "But the bottom line is that by joining forces with me, I can help you eliminate the Tamers and the Digidestined. I can also help you destroy the Child of Radiance, who at the moment is your most powerful enemy."

"And what do you get out of this little arrangement?" CountMyotismon asked. "Clearly you're not simply interested in helping me."

"Believe it or not, you and I have the same enemies." Gabriel answered. "The Tamers and the Digidestined, especially the Child of Radiance, both pose a threat to me as well. By working together, we stand a better chance of eliminating them."

"You do make a good point." The vampire admitted. "But if we are going to be working together, you can at least tell me who you are. I can tell that you're actually a Digimon disguised as a human, one with powers that may even rival my own. I think I should know exactly who you are."

"I'm afraid my true identity needs to remain a secret for now." Gabriel told him. "But know that I have been around since before that band of rebels, the Seven Lords. And that I am far more powerful than they ever were. Even Lucemon would find me to be a challenging opponent."

"I see…" CountMyotismon replied. "Well, if you're really that powerful, joining forces with you would give me a great advantage. I'll work with you for now. But try and betray me, and I will kill you without mercy."

"I will do the same if you betray me." Gabriel assured him as he stood and shook the vampire's hand. "Come here first thing tomorrow morning, and we shall prepare an operation to eliminate the Tamers."

CountMyotismon nodded and walked of through a swirling black vortex that suddenly appeared. Emerging from the other side of the vortex, CountMyotismon walked into a very large dark room in an ancient stone castle. The vampire lord was not the only one in the room. Another creature was also in the room, standing the darkness.

"Ah, CountMyotismon." The creature greeted in a gentlemanly voice that had a slight Romanian accent. "How has the world of the Tamers been treating you?"

"There's been an interesting development, Elder One." CountMyotismon told him. "A Digimon posing as a human has made an alliance with me. He claims to have been around since before the Seven Lords and that he's more powerful than they ever were. But the only Digimon I know who fits that description is you. So I was wondering if you knew who he might be."

"Hmm… I might have an idea who he is, but I can't be sure." The Elder One told him. "Ages ago, shortly before Lucemon's great rebellion, another high-ranking angel rebelled against Yggdrasill and lost. As punishment for he defiance, Yggdrasill burned away half his body and cast him into the Dark Ocean."

"Why am I only hearing of this now?" CountMyotismon asked.

"Because I thought that this Digimon had perished shortly after the great war." The Elder One explained. "His injuries at Yggdrasill's hands were quite great. I was actually surprised he had lasted as long as he did. But if your new partner who he claims to be, than it looks like he found a way to restore himself and escaped to the universe of the Tamers."

"I see." CountMyotismon replied. "Well if he has been in the Tamers' world since the great war ended, then he must have some sort of grand plan that's he's been working towards all this time. He'll probably betray me as soon as he no longer finds me useful."

"Oh, I'm quite sure he will. But you can make use of him as well, CountMyotismon." The Elder One pointed out. "With his help, getting the power of Yggdrasill that one of the Tamers may possess will be much easier."

"Yes, and once I have that power, I'll destroy him before he can turn against me." CountMyotismon realized. "This alliance may just work out perfectly."

* * *

**Author's Note:** This was originally going to be two chapters, but what ended up being the first half wound up being shorter than anticipated. So I ended up merging it with what I was going to do originally for the next chapter. Of course I ended up cutting out some flashbacks about Alex's past that I was planning to do, but I was kinda stuck on how those flashbacks were going to go anyway. As for Gabriel's real identity, the biggest clue lies in the story that the Elder One told CountMyotismon.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	7. The Show Must Go On

**Author's Note:** The title of this chapter comes from the Queen song go the same name. I'd also like to warn everyone that things are going to get a little bloody towards the end of this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 7: "The Show Must Go On"

It was 6:30 in the morning as Alex headed to the control room at SAINT Headquarters with Kotemon. Margo had called her ten minutes before and ordered her to come. Alex's sleep had not been disturbed by the call though. She had already woken up due to another nightmare involving the wretched beach inhabited by those horrid fish-frog things. On the way to the control room, Alex and Kotemon ran into Richard and Sandra, and their respective Digimon partners.

"Morning, Lexi." Richard greeted. "Looks like the commander dragged you out of bed too."

"You okay, Alex?" Sandra asked. "You look like you didn't sleep very well."

"I'm fine." Alex told her. "But I am wondering why we're being called in at this time of the day."

"Whatever's going on, it's probably pretty big." Richard assumed. "I'm hoping that we're going to get a chance to pay back those rogue Tamers for beating us the other day."

The group arrived at the control room to find Margo already waiting for them to arrive. She had on a pair of sunglasses, and Alex noticed that she seemed to look paler than usual.

"D-Sentinels reporting as ordered, ma'am." Richard spoke as he and the others stood at attention. "May I ask why we've been called in?"

"I think I'll let Mr. Bishop explain." Margo answered.

On cue, the door to the control room opened up and Gabriel walked in. With him was a fairly handsome-looking gentleman with shoulder-length blonde hair and pale skin. One of his eyes was blue while the other was green, and he had on a black suit with a red tie.

"The gentleman with me is a new associate of ours, Bram Collins." Gabriel introduced. "He is going to accompany you on your next mission."

"If I may ask, sir. What is our next mission?" Sandra asked.

"You're going to help me eliminate the Tamers." Bram explained.

"Finally! I've been waiting for this." Richerd excitedly declared.

"With all due respect, Mr. Bishop. How is Mr. Collins going to help us in this mission?" Alex asked. "He certainly doesn't look like a Tamer."

"Mr. Collins has certain talents that will be quite useful to us." Gabriel explained. "But you will be the ones helping him."

"The master will be joining you in this next battle." Margo told them. "I'm sure you will all be surprised when he demonstrates his true powers, but no matter what you see you are under orders to give him your full support."

"I look forward to working with you all." Bram told them. "The mission will begin once I lure the Tamers out. For now, stay here and be ready."

"That is all, for now." Gabriel told them.

With that, Alex and the others left the control room with their Digimon. On the way out, Alex couldn't help but think about how strange their little briefing had seemed.

"I can already tell this is going to be a great mission." Richard told them. "At last we're finally going to put those rogue Tamers in their place before they can cause any harm to the public."

"Didn't any of that seem odd to you guys?" Alex asked them. "For one thing, Commander Lane seemed a little off."

"She's probably just a little hung over." Sandra assumed.

"Maybe she and Mr. Collins were out last night having some fling." Palmon assumed.

"I don't know. The whole thing just doesn't seem right." Alex told them. "I mean we don't know anything this Mr. Collins, and we're just supposed to follow him into battle?"

"Alex, it's not our place to question our orders." Richard told her. "As soldiers of SAINT, it's our duty to carry out any mission we're given."

"I know, but…" Alex tried to argue.

"Alex, the discussion is over!" Richard snapped. "Now we've got a battle to prepare for. I suggest you spend your time getting ready."

"Yeah Alex. Don't rock the boat." Sandra told her. "You know how much the higher-ups hate it when we disobey."

"Yeah… okay." Alex replied.

With that, Alex continued down the hall with Kotemon and the others. She knew it was pointless for her to question what was going on. She had her orders, and there was nothing that she could do about it.

* * *

Suzie and the other Tamers had been called in Hypnos HQ. Everyone had come except for Takato's friends, Kazu and Kenta. They had been out of town for the past week on the way to attend some rock concert. After the group had been waiting for almost an hour and a half, Yamaki finally entered the boardroom with Janyu.

"Mind telling us what all this is about?" Rika asked Yamaki.

"It's taken some digging, but I've finally found out what group the D-Sentinels are associated with." Yamaki explained as he sat at the head of the table. "They're with an organization called the Stealth Autonomous Insurgent Neutralizing Taskforce, or SAINT for short."

"That sounds like a needlessly complicated name." Parker remarked.

"According to my sources, they're a rogue military organization that started in the early 1980s." Yamaki continued. "In the beginning they were a mercenary group who'd lend out their services to the highest bidder."

"Wait, so they're not with the U.S. government?" a surprised Suzie asked.

"I never said that they were." Yamaki answered. "Though it seems that some of the lower-ranking operatives in the organization think that they are. A few of them were captured by the real U.S. government and got a real nasty surprise when they found out who their real bosses were."

"So who's the guy who's been running this outfit?" Takato asked.

"That would be this man, Gabriel Bishop." Yamkai answered as pressed the button of his little black clicker. A picture of Gabriel appeared on the large screen on the wall behind him. "There's hardly any information on him, but we do know that he is the one who founded SAINT."

"Ever since Digimon have started appearing in the human world, SAINT has been trying to use them for military purposes." Janyu added. "We think they may have been capturing rogue Digimon that have been appearing in other parts of the world for the past few years."

"But how have they managed to do that?" Ryo asked.

"With Tamers." Yamaki answered. "It took a whole lot of digging, but a source of mine managed to find out that SAINT has been recruiting orphaned or abandoned children who became partners with Digimon and training them to be soldiers. Those are the D-Sentinels."

"Well, I guess we at least know who we're up against now." Henry observed. "But what do we do about it?"

"At the moment, there isn't much we can do." Yamaki answered. "We think that SAINT probably has a base somewhere in Tokyo, but until we find it we can't shut them down. I've already started working with other organizations to find them, but it's going to take time. So for now, all we can do is wait."

"So in other words, the ball's in SAINT's court." Parker observed. "We're just sitting on our hands until they make the next move."

"That's all we have to tell you, for now." Yamaki told the Tamers. "You can all go now."

With the briefing over, the Tamers all decided to have lunch somewhere. They ended up going out to a restaurant not far from Hypnos HQ where they could eat outside. During the whole meal, Suzie kept thinking about what she and the others had learned about SAINT. It all seemed to fit with the story that Alex had told her the night before, but it also made the story more tragic in a way. Alex wasn't even working for the U.S. government. Instead she was just a pawn for some rogue organization that was probably planning to take over the world.

"Okay, so we know who it is that's pulling the D-Sentinels' strings." Rika spoke. "But what are we supposed to do about the D-Sentinels themselves?"

"We could try telling them that really working for some rogue outfit." Ryo suggested.

"I doubt they'd believe us." Henry assumed. "As far as they're concerned, we're the enemy. They'll think anything we try to tell them is a lie."

"But we can't just fight them like they're some group of evil Digimon. They're Tamers!" Takato pointed out. "There has to be a way to stop them without killing them."

"I say we just blow 'em away." Impmon spoke before taking another bite from the sandwich he was eating. "It serves 'em right for tryin' to kill us."

"Impmon, you don't really mean that, do you?" Ai asked.

"As much as I hate to say it, Impmon may be right." Henry spoke. "The only solution may be to kill these guys before they kill us."

"Jeez Henry, when did you get to be so cold?" an unsettled Takato asked.

"I'm just being realistic." Henry calmly replied. "The D-Sentinels aren't going to be showing us any mercy. In the end, there may be no choice but to kill them."

"We can't do that!" Suzie protested as she stood from her chair. "There has to be some other way!"

Before anyone could debate the point, Jeri's cell phone suddenly rang. She looked at the phone's caller ID and saw that it was someone named Bram V. Collins.

Jeri shrugged and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

_"Hello there, Jeri."_ CountMyotismon's voice answered, causing all the color to drain from Jeri's face. _"I trust you remember me."_

"Jeri, what is it?" a concerned Takato asked.

_"Is that Takato? Mind putting him on for me?"_ CountMyotismon requested. _"I want to congratulate him for his little victory in our last battle."_

"He, uh… he wants to talk to you." A trembling Jeri told Takato as she handed him the phone.

Takato put the phone to his ear. "Who is this?"

_"How are you, Takato?"_ CountMyotismon answered. _"I trust you're doing well."_

"Myotismon!" Takato responded, greatly startling the others. "How the hell are you still alive?"

_"Does that really matter?"_ CountMyotismon asked. _"Meet me at Tokyo Tower in an hour. We have a lot of catching up to do. Oh, and bring the other Tamers with you, including little Suzie. I don't want her to miss any of this battle."_

"And what if I just come alone?" Takato asked.

_"Then I can't be held entirely responsible for what happens to any of them."_ The vampire lord answered. _"I'll be waiting for you all."_ With that, the line went dead.

"Myotismon's actually back?" a stunned Rika asked. "What does it take to actually kill that guy?"

"He wants us all to come to Tokyo Tower." Takato told them. "He said he'd be waiting for us."

"Suzie's not coming with." Henry decided.

"She has to, Henry." Takato told him. "Otherwise Myotismon said he'd send someone after her."

"Well then, looks like we've all got a date with a vampire." Parker observed as he got up.

"We can at least call Yamaki and have him send some backup for us." Takato decided as he got out his own phone. "Not that it'll probably do much good."

Within an hour, the Tamers had arrived at Tokyo Tower. They found Bram waiting for them in front of the iconic structure. Guilmon growled at Bram, identifying him as the evil vampire.

"Well, you're all right on time." Bram greeted as he approached. "Glad you could all show up."

"What the hell is that you're after now, Myotismon?" Takato demanded to know.

"Well for starters, you can address me by my proper name." Bram answered. "I am CountMyotismon!"

With that, Bram became enveloped in a pillar of cracking crimson energy. The energy faded after a moment to reveal CountMyotismon in his true Digimon form. The people around the tower all quickly ran off to avoid getting caught in the crossfire of the battle that was about to come.

Parker got out his D-Arc to see what they were up against. "The guy may have a new form, but this data I've got says he's only an Ultimate level."

"We shouldn't take any chances." Takato decided. "Let's hit him with everything we've got!"

"Sounds good to me!" Impmon agreed as he began to glow with a purple light. "Impmon warp digivolve to… Beelzemon!"

As soon as Impmon had transformed into the demon biker, most of the other Tamers biomerged with their Digimon to evolve them to their Mega forms. While the rest of the Tamers along with Calumon and Lopmon took cover, Gallantmon and the other Mega Digimon began to charge at CountMyotismon.

CountMyotismon grinned and raised his hands forward. "Crimson Shocker!"

Bolts of crimson lightning shot from the vampire lord's hands and struck Gallantmon and the rest of the team. The attack knocked all of them, including MegaGargmon onto their backs.

"What the…?" Gallantmon exclaimed in Takato's voice as he managed to sit up. "Nash, I thought you said CountMyotismon is just an Ultimate!"

"I am indeed only an Ultimate level Digimon." CountMyotismon confirmed. "But the powers I retained from absorbing the D-Reaper have made me far stronger than anything you've faced before. In fact in the other human world, that fool Alphamon even said that I was stronger than Lucemon."

"What? He's stronger than the leader of the Seven Lords?" a shocked Sakuyamon asked.

"Big freakin' deal!" Beelzemon spoke as he got back to his feet. "From what I was told, I'm supposed to be one of those Seven Lord guys too. Which means this chump should be no problem for me."

"You're quite confident, Beelzemon." CountMyotismon replied. "But you're foolish to believe you even stand a chance against me."

"Shut the hell up!" Beelzemon told him. "I'm gonna make you pay for the way you used me durin' that whole Crimson Plague thing!"

"That's right! You've got a lot to answer for, CountMyotismon!" Gallantmon added as he got back up. "We're going to take you down once and for all!"

"Fighting all of you would be child's play for me." CountMyotismon confidently declared. "But I'm in no mood for what I'm sure would be a long drawn out battle. So I've brought a few new friends to help me."

With that, CountMyotismon snapped his fingers. Suddenly Apollomon, Rosemon, and Crusadermon jumped down from the roof of a nearby building to stand by the vampire lord.

"What the… you're working with the D-Sentinels?" Gallantmon asked.

"More like they're working for me." CountMyotismon answered.

"Crusadermon!" Suzie called out. "You can't really be working with CountMyotismon, can you?"

"Sorry, but this is the way it has to be." Crusadermon spoke as it clenched its fist.

"You guys do know that the Digimon you're working with is the one who caused the Crimson Plague incident, don't you?" Gallantmon informed the sentinels.

"As if we're going to buy that!" Apollomon scoffed.

"Indeed. You rogue Tamers will probably say anything to save your own skin." Rosemon agreed.

"Then the time to talk is over!" Beelzemon declared as he pulled out his guns and began firing at CountMyotismon.

The barrage of gunfire struck CountMyotismon, but his body quickly regenerated from the blasts. The D-Sentinels dispersed with Crusadermon going after MegaGargomon and Dynasmon while Rosemon went after Justimon and Sakuyamon. Gallantmon charged towards CountMyotismon, only for Apollomon to attack him with a flaming punch.

"Sorry knight, but I'll be your opponent for this fight." Apollomon told him. "You and I have got a score to settle."

"Apollomon! Leave Gallantmon to me." CountMyotismon ordered. "I've got a more personal score with him. Go and help Rosemon."

"But sir…" Apollomon tried to argue.

"In case you've forgotten, Bishop put me in charge of this little mission." CountMyotismon reminded him. "Now do as I command!"

"…Yes sir." Apollomon complied before leaping off to go join Rosemon.

"So that's why they're working for you. You've teamed up with that Gabriel Bishop guy." Gallantmon deduced. "But how is it that you started working together in the first place?"

"That is the least of your concerns!" CountMyotismon told him before firing another electrical blast at the knight.

Not far away, Sakuyamon and Justimon were already locked in battle against Rosemon and Apollomon. The fox priestess used her golden staff to block one of Rosemon's vine whips while Justimon managed to slash Apollomon across the chest with his sword arm.

"Can't you two just stop for a minute and think?" Justimon asked their two opponents. "If you really are fighting to protect world piece, than why do your superiors have you working for a rogue Digimon like CountMyotismon?"

"Our role is not to question our orders." Apollomon told them.

"You're both idiots!" Sakuyamon told the duo. "SAINT isn't even part of the U.S. government! You're both just working for some group that's probably trying to take over the world!"

"More lies." Rosemon responded before cracking her whip. "Nothing you say will get you out of this battle. Now prepare to die!"

Not far away, Crusadermon was struggling against Dynasmon and MegaGargomon. The pink knight leapt up to deliver another punch to the MegaGargomon's chest, only to be knocked back by a blast from Dynasmon's palms. It took a moment for Crusadermon to get back to its feet after that attack.

"We do not have to do this, Crusadermon." Dynasmon told the knight. "The people you serve are not who they seem. Surly the fact that someone like CountMyotismon is now your commander must say something about their character."

"Like I said, it's out of my hands." Crusadermon told them. "I have no choice but to do everything in my power to destroy, no matter what my personal feelings might be."

"Then I guess we have no choice." MegaGargomon observed before opening fire.

Crusadermon jumped out of the way before MegaGargomon's barrage could strike. Afterwards, the pink knight jumped back into the air to go after Dynasmon. Meanwhile, Gallantmon and Beelzemon were still locked in battle with CountMyotismon. Gallantmon struck the vampire lord from the front with an energy blast from his lance, while Beelzemon shot him in the back with another hail of bullets. CountMyotismon instantly regenerated from both attacks and shocked both of them with more bolts of lightning from his hands.

"Digi-Modify!" Jeri called out as she swiped a card through her D-Arc. "Shadow Clone Spell, activate!"

Two clones of Gallantmon appeared on the battlefield. The three knights quickly surrounded CountMyotismon and shot him from three sides with intense blasts of energy from his shield. When the attack ended, Gallantmon's two clones vanished. CountMyotismon emerged from the smoke and went after the knight with a sword made of crystalized blood. Gallantmon easily blocked the sword strike with his shield.

"That was quite the impressive move you used on me a moment ago." CountMyotismon remarked.

"That was all thanks to Jeri." Gallantmon told him. "With her helping me, there's no way I'll lose to you!"

"Ah yes, Jeri. I really did enjoy the little time she and I spent together." CountMyotismon recalled. "You wouldn't believe some of the things I used her body for."

"…What's that supposed to mean?" Gallantmon asked.

"Well for one thing, while I was in control of Jeri's body I used her to seduce little Suzie." CountMyotismon revealed, shocking both Suzie and Jeri. The vampire's remark also caught the attention of Crusadermon and MegaGargomon. "Oh yes, Suzie really is a lovely young woman, and she was such an easy conquest. I can still remember the taste of her skin and the sounds she made as I brought her to the heights of ecstasy before bringing her into my collective."

"You bastard!" Gallantmon cursed as he charged at CountMyotismon.

CountMyotismon simply laughed as he turned into a red mist that Gallantmon ended up charging through. A split second later, the vampire lord reformed.

"You know, when this battle is over I may spare Jeri and Suzie to entertain me later." CountMyotismon continued. "It's easy for me to bend humans to my will. I may have them put on a little show for me to relive the memory of that day. Or I may do something far more hands on."

Suddenly Crusadermon charged in and stuck CountMyotismon in the face with an exploding punch, surprising Gallantmon and the others. The vampire head was blown off, but quickly reformed after a moment. Before CountMyotismon could figure out what had just happened, Crusadermon spun around and slashed the vampire with its ribbon-like blades.

"What the hell's going on?" Gallantmon wondered.

* * *

From the control room at SAINT headquarters, Gabriel and Margo watched as Crusadermon attacked CountMyotismon. The video feed from the battlefield showed the pink knight struck CountMyotismon with an exploding uppercut.

"That little witch!" Margo cursed. "How dare she attack the master like that?"

"It does seem that Ms. O'Hara needs to be reminded of where her loyalties lie." Gabriel agreed before looking down at the control technicians. "Set Crusadermon's agonizer to ten."

"But sir, if left at ten for too long, Crusadermon could…" the technician operating Crusadermon's monitoring station tried to argue.

"Do it." Gabriel calmly ordered.

"Yes sir." The technician replied before turning back her station. "Setting agonizer to level ten."

* * *

Just as Crusadermon was about to attack again, its body began to crackle with sparks of blue electricity. The pink knight cried out in pain and fell to one knee.

"Well, it seems that Bishop has a few methods for keeping you in line." CountMyotismon observed. "But I prefer to punish your disloyalty in my own way. Crimson Shocker!"

CountMyotismon began shocking Crusadermon with bolts of crimson electricity from his hands. Suddenly Beelzemon fired another gun barrage into his back, stopping the vampire's attack on Crusadermon.

CountMyotismon merely turned around to look at the demon biker. "Are you still here?"

"You piece of shit!" Beelzemon cursed. "I'm gonna make you pay for usin' Jeri the way you did!"

CountMyotismon waved his arm and Beelzemon was lifted into the air by and invisible force, only to be flung into the ground next to Crusadermon. The vampire then began to shock them both with more red bolts of electricity.

"What a pair you are." CountMyotismon remarked. "A knight who can't protect anyone, and a demon lord who can't kill properly. I think I'll change my plans and keep you both alive long enough to watch as I kill Suzie and Jeri slowly and painfully."

"Damn you!" Crusadermon and Beelzemon both cursed.

Suddenly the screen of Jeri's D-Arc began to glow with a white light. The screen of Ai and Mako's D-Arc began to glow as well, and another white light began to shine from Crusadermon's chest. A beam of light shot out from the screen of Jeri's D-Arc and created a modify card that she had never seen before. Jeri touched the card and suddenly found that she knew what it did.

"What… what should I do with this?" Jeri asked.

"Is it a card that could help Beelzemon?" Calumon asked.

"Well, I don't know how, but this card should be able to help both Beelzemon and Crusadermon." Jeri answered. "But… I don't know if I should use it."

"Jeri, you have to!" Suzie told her. "We have to help Crusadermon somehow. I can't just stand here and watch while… while…"

"I don't know about Crusadermon, but if that card can help Beelzemon you have to use it!" Mako told Jeri.

"But…" Jeri tried to argue.

"Jeri, both Beelzemon and Crusadermon are in trouble." Calumon pointed out.

Jeri looked at the card for a moment and wondered if it was really safe to use. But seeing that there didn't seem to be any other choice.

"DigiXros!" Jeri called out as she swiped the card through her D-Arc. "Crusadermon and Beelzemon!"

Suddenly Beelzemon turned into a ball of yellow light and shot up into the air. The light came back down a second and went into Crusadermon. A pillar of black energy exploded out around the knight and knocked CountMyotismon away while shooting into the air. The sunny sky above became covered with thick dark clouds and the wind picked up.

* * *

The technician at Crusadermon's station was monitoring the knight's readings when suddenly the screen in front of her went dark. A yellow circular emblem that was Beelzemon's crest of gluttony appeared on the monitor. Before the technician could figure out what she was seeing, the screen exploded and hurled her across the room. Her body hit the wall behind her and slid to the floor, leaving a trail of blood.

"What… what was that?" a shocked Margo asked.

"It seems that one of the Tamers somehow used one of powers of Yggdrasill, the power of DigiXros." Gabriel answered. "This battle may be lost to us."

* * *

Lightning flashed in the sky above the battlefield as everyone stopped and watched what was happening to Crusadermon. The pillar of black energy faded to reveal Crusadermon in a new form. The knight's once pink armor had become pitch-black, and its ribbon-like blades had been replaced by a pair of iron-grey Gatling guns connected to a pack on its back. The yellowed skull of some demonic dragon or lizard had replaced Crusadermon's gold shield. The ends of the knight's fingers had gained red nails, and tied around its left upper arm was Beelzemon's red bandanna. The top half of Crusadermon's helmet had become shaped like Beelzemon's mask, and a string or long silver hair tied into a ponytail grew down from the back of the knight's head.

"Something's gone wrong." Lopmon spoke. "I don't think Jeri should've used that card after all."

Before Suzie or anyone else could respond, three red eyes began to glow from behind Crusadermon's helmet. The black knight threw back its head and let out a high-pitched demonic shriek.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Remember when Takato's Guilmon evolved into Megidramon or when Tai's Agumon evolved into SkullGreymon? Well what's going to happen in the next chapter is going to be about ten times worse.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	8. Knight of Vengeance

**Author's Note:** To those who like to listen to music while they read, I suggest that you listen to the song, _The Monster Is Loose_ by Meat Loaf. It really sets the tone for this chapter. Also, I just want to warn everyone that this chapter is going to get a little bit bloody.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 8: Knight of Vengeance

Suzie was filled with a sense of fear and dread as she looked at the creature that Crusadermon had transformed into. From the way it cried out, it no longer seemed like the Crusadermon or Alex that Suzie knew. It didn't even seem like Beelzemon. She didn't know what the creature before her was, but it seemed like one thing was clear. Whatever power Jeri had used to combine Crusadermon and Beelzemon together, she shouldn't have used it.

"That… that Digimon still is Beelzemon, isn't it?" a somewhat frightened Ai asked. "I mean he's still in there, right?"

Mako looked at the holographic screen of his D-Arc. "It says here that this Digimon is called Crusadermon Vengeance Mode. But… Beelzemon was used to make it, so…"

"Something's very wrong." Suzie told them. "Crusadermon shouldn't be like this."

"I don't know what power is at work here, but I'm not intimidated by this new form of yours." CountMyotismon told the dark knight. "I won't hesitate to…"

Before the vampire lord could finish his sentence, Crusadermon charged at him and jumped into the air before tackling him to the ground with enough force to leave an impression in the concrete. The demon knight began to punch CountMyotismon repeatedly in the face as it shrieked like some kind of wild animal.

Apollomon rushed towards the dark knight. "Crusadermon, stop! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Crusadermon turned his attention away from pummeling CountMyotismon and fired a hail of bullets at Apollomon with its shoulder-mounted Gatling guns. Apollomon fell back, but CountMyotismon managed to get back up and hurl Crusadermon back ten feet.

"You will pay for that!" CountMyotismon declared. "Crimson Shocker!"

Bolts of red lightning shot from the vampire lord's fingertips and began shocking Crusadermon. But the demon knight merely growled and charged through the blast towards CountMyotismon. It grabbed the vampire by his right arm and began swinging him around like a rag doll. The knight swung CountMyotismon into the ground four times before hurling him all the way across the street into the front of a small office building. Crusadermon raised its right arm forward and the mouth of the skull on its forearm opened up.

A cannon barrel extended out of the mouth of the skull and a small black missile shot out and hit the office building that CountMyotismon had been thrown into. The base of the building exploded outward, scattering glass and shrapnel onto the street. The Tamers watched in horror as the small building began to collapse. The building was only fifteen stories high, but it was still a horrific amount of damage.

"Holy shit!" Justimon exclaimed in Ryo's voice. "You don't think that there were people in that building, do you?"

"This whole area should've been evacuated by now, but… there might still have been a few people in there." And equally horrified MegaGargomon answered.

Crusadermon merely looked on as the remains of the building burned, but suddenly a creature burst out of the rubble into the air. It was CountMyotismon in a new form. A pair of large bat-like wings had grown on his back, and his body had become more muscular. His jaw had become more pronounced, revealing a mouth full of fangs. His ears had also become larger and pointed while his nose had become like that of a vampire bat. CountMyotismon's eyes had also become yellow and his blonde hair had become longer and much wilder than before. His body had become clad in strange red armor, with a white bat-like symbol emblazoned on the front of the chest plate. His large hands and feet had gained sharp red claws, and his legs had become double-jointed.

CountMyotismon growled at Crusadermon before swooping down and carrying the demon knight into the dark stormy sky above. Crusadermon struggled to escape the monster vampire's grip, but CountMyotismon's new form was proving to be quite strong. Suddenly a grey cord-like tail with a grey curved blade on the end extended from the demon knight's rear and slashed off one of CountMyotismon's wings. Before the wing could grow back, Crusadermon finally managed to break free of the monster's grip and kicked him down into the street below. The demon knight flipped through the air before landing on the street on all fours like the wild beast it had become. CountMyotismon meanwhile had already gotten back to his feet.

"Damn you!" the vampire lord cursed before picking up a nearby car and hurling it at Crusadermon.

Crusadermon quickly rose back to its feet and shot the car with a missile from its skull cannon and blew the car to bits before it could hit. CountMyotismon flapped his mighty wings and sent forth a barrage of blood red crystal shards, but the demon knight shattered them all apart with a hail of bullets from its shoulder-mounted guns.

"Those two are going to tear the city apart if this keeps up!" Gallantmon realized.

"Yeah, but what are we supposed to do? Half that psycho knight is Beelzemon." Sakuyamon pointed out.

"We don't have a choice!" MegaGargomon told them. "One way or another, we have to stop this now before anyone else gets hurt!"

With that, the robot Digimon fired the large missiles mounted in his shoulders at Crusadermon and CountMyotismon. The demon knight noticed the two large projectiles and fired two shots from its skull cannon at both of them. Both shots hit their targets and caused the missiles to explode in midair. Gallantmon then began to charge at the two rampaging Digimon with Dynasmon, Sakuyamon, and Justimon.

"Stay out of this!" CountMyotismon told the four. "Nightmare Screech!"

The vampire lord let out a powerful sonic blast that struck all four Digimon and knocked them back, splitting them into their respective human Digimon pairs in the process. Crusadermon meanwhile fired another shot from its skull cannon at MegaGargomon. The large Digimon was struck in the chest and knocked to the ground, splitting him back into Henry and Terriermon in the process.

"Damn!" Parker cursed as he got back to his feet. "They're both just too strong."

Just as Crusadermon was about attack CountMyotismon again, Apollomon rushed in from behind and blasted the demon knight in the back with a stream of flames from its miniature sun. Crusadermon merely turned around and let out a hate-filled growl before charging at him and punching him in the jaw with a powerful uppercut. Apollomon was knocked to the ground and split back into an unconscious Richard and Coronamon.

"It seems we can now continue uninterrupted." CountMyotismon observed. "Let's finish this!"

Crusadermon let out another demonic shriek before charging at the vampire lord. The two Digimon continued to clash as if nothing else had happened.

"Unbelievable! Those two aren't gonna stop until one of them is dead." Parker realized.

"CountMyotimon appears to be more like a wild beast in his current form." Wizardmon observed. "As for Crusadermon, Beelzemon's raw power and demonic nature must be driving him and his Tamer mad. They've both been completely consumed by rage."

Suddenly Suzie ran to the edge of the battlefield with Lopmon still perched on her shoulder. "Alex, that's enough! Please stop!"

Crusadermon didn't respond at all. It continued to exchange punches with CountMyotismon as if she wasn't even there. Both Digimon seemed completely oblivious to their surroundings.

"Alex, please! You don't have to do this anymore!" Suzie begged. "Just stop, please!"

"What the… Alex? Does Suzie know who Crusadermon's Tamer is?" Takato asked.

"This is the first I've heard of it." Henry answered. "But if she really does know Crusadermon's Tamer, then why don't we know anything about it?"

"Alex, just stop already!" Suzie pleaded. "You don't have to fight anymore!"

"Suzie, we have to get back!" Lopmon told her. "Otherwise we're just going to get caught in the crossfire of that battle!"

"But…" Suzie tried to argue.

Suddenly CountMyotismon knocked Crusadermon away with his claws. Crusademron quickly recovered and aimed its skull cannon at the vampire. It fired a shell at CountMyotismon and blew him to smithereens. CountMyotismon quickly began to regenerate, but the demon knight fired off another shell before he could fully reform. As the vampire started to regenerate again, Crusadermon let loose a rapid-fire barrage of shells, each one striking the vampire before he could fully reform.

"Die…" Crusadermon spoke in Alex's voice in a low hate-filled tone as it fired. "Die, die, die, die, die… DIE!"

After a few moments, the barrage finally stopped. CountMyotismon's body seemed to have trouble fully reforming. The vampire lord had been reduced to being a red blob with a half-formed head. Just as the demon knight was about to fire another shot that would probably finish CountMyotismon entirely, Rosemon suddenly charged in and lashed Crusadermon with her whip.

"Sorry, but that's quite enough of that." Rosemon told the knight. "Your little tantrum ends now."

At that moment, Richard finally regained consciousness. "Sandra, what the hell are you doing?"

"Relax, Richard darling. I've got everything under control." Rosemon smugly assured him.

Taking at advantage of Rosemon's little distraction after fully reforming, CountMyotismon turned into a swarm of black bats and flew off. Crusadermon noticed the vampire lord's escape and shriek at Rosemon.

"Now, now. Getting angry at me isn't going to do you any good." Rosemon told the knight. "I don't know how you ended up like this, but I'm going to teach you a lesson."

With that, Rosemon swung her whip, only for Crusadermon to catch it with its left hand. With one tug, Crusadermon pulled Rosemon in close and fired another shell from its skull cannon into her stomach at point-blank range. What happened next all seemed to happen in an instant. Sandra's body fell to the ground while the data that was Rosemon drifted away into the air. Her D-Arc had shattered to nothing while a pool of blood formed around her. With Sandra dead, Crusadermon reared back its head and let out a horrid shriek of triumph.

It took Suzie and the other Tamers a moment to register what had just happened. They had been in many battles in the past, but this was the first time that they had seen another Tamer killed. Suzie staggered back in horror before tripping over something and landing on her butt. She couldn't believe that that the monster standing over Sandra's body was Alex. That Alex was really inside that beast somewhere.

Jeri meanwhile trembled and looked at her D-Arc. "Dear god… what have I done?"

By this time, Coronamon had finally woken up. Richard meanwhile had slowly gotten to his feet. He looked on, frozen as Crusadermon continued to shriek in triumph over its latest kill.

"No… it... it can't be…" Richard spoke as tears streamed down his face. "SANDRA!"

Suddenly the dark knight's body flashed with a yellow light and it split back into Crusadermon and Beelzemon. The stormy sky above cleared as Crusadermon feel to its knees. The pink knight split back into Alex and a dazed Kotemon. A shocked and horrified expression was on Alex's face. Her D-Arc fell from her jacket and hit the ground with a clack. A large clack had formed in the device's screen and smoke was coming out of the slots in the sides.

Beelzemon looked down at Sandra's dead body and his eyes widened. "What… what the freakin' hell…?"

"You damn murderers!" Richard shouted, getting Beelzemon's attention. "You killed Sandra in cold blood! I'll never forgive either of you!"

"Shut the hell up, you goddamn punk!" Beelzemon shot back as he pulled out one of his guns and aimed it at Richard.

Suddenly a black unmarked van emerged from an alley and pulled up behind Richard and Coronamon. The side door opened to reveal a pair of men wearing black suits and sunglasses.

"Flag! Get in the van!" one of the men ordered. Before Richard could argue, the sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance.

"Richard, we have to go!" Coronamon told him.

Richard clenched his fists and glared at Alex and Beelzemon one last time before getting into the van with Coronamon. The van drove off before anyone could try to stop it. Not that anyone tried at all. Gritting his teeth, Beelzemon holstered his gun and snapped his fingers. His demon motorcycle appeared in a flash of flames and pulled up next to him.

"Beelzemon, wait!" Ai called as the demon biker mounted his vehicle. "Where are you going?"

"Mind your own damn business!" Beelzemon shot back before driving off and vanishing in a flash of flames.

Four police cars and two military jeeps pulled up and surrounded Alex and Kotemon. The officers got out of their vehicles and pointed their guns at the duo. Alex didn't even seem to notice them.

"Wait! Don't shot!" Suzie called out as she ran up. "She's not gonna hurt anyone!"

Suddenly a black van pulled up and near where Suzie was standing and Yamaki got out with a pair of soldiers. "Thank you, officers. We'll take it from here."

The police officers nodded and holstered their guns. Suzie could only watch as the two soldiers that had come with Yamaki went over and escorted Alex and Kotemon to the vehicle. Suzie kept her eyes on Alex as she was pushed into the back of the van. The van pulled away and Suzie had to resist the urge to run after it.

"Suzie!" Henry called, getting the pinkette's attention.

Suzie turned around to find that all of the Tamers had walked up to her. Henry had the sternest expression that Suzie had ever seen him with. It was clear that they all had questions for her.

"What do you guys want?" Suzie asked, though she already knew the answer.

"I think you and I need to have a little talk about the kind of friends you've been hanging out with." Henry told her.

* * *

**Author's Note:** One of the major reasons I really liked writing this chapter is that it gave me a chance to show what might happened if a biomerged Digimon was killed in battle. Anyway, I said at the end of the last chapter that Crusadermon's DigiXros with Beelzemon would be at least ten times worse than the SkullGreymon and Megidramon incidents from the anime. Unlike this chapter, there were no human deaths during those incidents.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	9. Dark Tides

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 9: Dark Tides

Alex sat huddled in a corner of her cell at Hypnos HQ with her knees against her chest. In her right hand she clutched onto her broken D-Arc. Alex had barely registered what had happened to her after the battle with the Tamers at Tokyo Tower. She vaguely recalled someone named Yamaki asking her questions of some sort earlier, but it was all hazy. Her mind was still playing the events of that battle when she fused with Beelzemon over and over again. Some parts of the battle were a blur, but she could remember the rage clearly. She could remember trying with all her might to kill CountMyotismon, and how she blew up a building that might've had people in it and murdered Sandra in cold blood in the process.

It wasn't until the moment the fusion with Beelzemon ended when Alex had realized what she had done. And she was absolutely appalled. For all she new, she may have killed several innocent people. She might've even murdered Suzie for all she knew. Alex had let her rage get the better of her and let it turn her into a monster. As far as she was concerned, she deserved to die.

The door to Alex's cell suddenly opened and Kotemon was thrown inside. Alex didn't even react to the little reptile Digimon's arrival.

"Alex!" Kotemon called as he quickly went over to her. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you. Are you okay?"

Alex didn't answer. She didn't even turn her head to look at Kotemon.

"Some guys from this Hypnos group tried questioning me about SAINT." Kotemon continued. "I wasn't sure if I should tell them anything, so I kept my mouth shut. Did they question you too?"

Alex hadn't been listening to a word that Kotemon had said. Her mind kept playing the moments of that battle over and over again in an endless loop. She could still clearly see Sandra's dead body lying on the ground.

"Hey! Alex! Hello!" Kotemon spoke as he waved a hand in front of her eyes. "Are you even listening to me?"

It soon became clear to Kotemon that Alex wasn't really even aware that he was there. Kotemon let out a defeated sigh and sat down against the wall next to Alex.

* * *

Suzie had been sitting in Yamaki's office for hours as Yamaki and her brother questioned her about what she really knew about Alex. The whole time she had been left wondering about what was going to happen to Alex. Out of defiance, Suzie had not told them a single thing, much to Henry and Yamaki's frustration.

"C'mon Suzie, just tell us how long you've known about Alex being one of the D-Sentinels." Henry ordered. Suzie kept her mouth shut.

"If you know any information about SAINT, Ms. Wong you should tell us now." Yamaki told her. "You may know something that might help us take down SAINT. And the sooner we take them down, the sooner you and the other Tamers are out of danger."

"Do you want what happened to that girl your so-called friend Alex killed today to happen to me or any of the others?" Henry asked.

"Look! Alex didn't tell me anything about where SAINT's base is or anything like that!" Suzie finally told them. "She told me about how she ended up working for them, and that was it!"

"You should've told us the moment you found out that your little friend was one of the D-Sentinels." Yamaki told her.

"What, so you could've arrested her?" Suzie asked.

"If we had, what happened today could've been avoided." Yamaki pointed out.

"How could have been so stupid as to not tell us anything about this?" Henry asked her.

"Hey! Alex is my friend, and she's protected me three times now!" Suzie argued.

"Well she certainly wasn't trying to protect you today!" Henry pointed out. "Can't you see that Alex was probably trying to use you in order to get closer to us?"

"I'll never believe that." Suzie declared.

"You better start telling us everything you know about Alex, right now." Yamaki ordered. "I want to make sure you're not holding anything back."

Suddenly the door to the office opened and Janyu walked in. "That's enough! Both of you! Suzie's had quite enough of your little inquisition for today."

"Stay out of this, Janyu." Yamaki told him.

"I don't think so." Janyu responded. "I'm not going to stand around any longer and let you treat my daughter like a common criminal."

"But dad. Suzie kept a secret from us that put everyone in danger." Henry argued.

"Maybe so, but that's no excuse for what you're doing now." Janyu told him. "I'm sure if Suzie actually knew something that put you and the others in danger, she would've told us already."

"But dad…" Henry tried to argue.

"Henry, just let it go." Terriermon told him. "Your dad's right. Suzie wouldn't do anything that would put you or our friends in danger."

"Alright, Janyu. You can take her." Yamaki answered. "I'm sure we can get what we want to know out of that girl, Alex later anyway."

"Just what are you going to do to Alex?" Suzie asked.

"Hard to say." Yamaki answered. "There's a lot that needs to be considered. But for now, she's going to be our prisoner for a while. I wouldn't count on seeing her at your school ever again."

* * *

Takato and the others sat quietly at the boardroom at Hypnos HQ. Hardly anyone had said a word since they had gotten there. All of them were still reeling from the final events of the battle. Sandra's brutal death had struck a cord with all of them.

"You know… I guess I never really thought about it before. But what happened to that D-Sentinel could've happened to any of us." Rika finally spoke.

"Hey. No one said that being a hero is safe and easy." Ryo pointed out.

"It's all my fault." Jeri spoke. "If I hadn't used that modify card…"

"Jeri, don't go blaming yourself." Takato told her. "You couldn't have known that any of this would happen."

"He's right, Ms. Jeri." Wizardmon chimed in. "There was no way to know that the fusion between Crusadermon and Beelzemon would've been so volatile."

"You know what the really messed up thing about all this is?" Parker spoke. "If that D-Sentinel girl hadn't gotten in Crusadermon's way, she'd not only still be alive but CountMyotismon would probably be dead."

"I just hope that Beelzemon comes back soon." Ai spoke. "Did you see how shocked he was when he saw that girl's body?"

"Yeah, and after he said all that stuff before about killing those D-Sentinel guys." Mako recalled.

"Beelzemon talks big, but in the end I think he's just a bog softie." Renamon remarked. "Don't worry though. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

Before the conversation could continue, Henry walked into the boardroom with Terriermon. He slumped into one of the chairs and opened the can of soda he had in his hand.

"How'd it go with Suzie?" Takato asked.

"I'd sure like to know when my little sister became such a brat." Henry replied. "It was hours before she finally said a word to me and Yamaki. Even then, she didn't tell us very much. After that, my dad came and took her home."

"Well, you can't really blame Suzie for sticking up for her friend." Ryo pointed out. "Besides, I'm sure she's as shaken up by all this as the rest of us."

"She should've told us the minute she found out that this Alex was one of the D-Sentinels." Henry insisted.

"Yeah, maybe she should've." Rika replied. "But it's all pretty much pointless now."

"She's right, Henry. What's done is done." Terriermon agreed. "Plus it doesn't seem like Suzie was in a real easy position."

"Suzie should've been smart enough to realize that Alex was a spy." Henry responded.

"I don't know. There are some things about this that just don't add up." Parker interjected. "Like, remember how Crusadermon suddenly attacked CountMyotismon? Why would he, or I guess she, do that if she was just some kind of enemy spy?"

"I guess I don't have an answer for that." Henry admitted. "But the one thing I am sure of is that Alex is dangerous. There's no way I'm letting her get near Suzie ever again."

* * *

Gabriel walked to corridors of the lowest level of SAINT headquarters towards a metal door being guarded by a pair of Bakemon. The two Digimon ghosts floated aside to let Gabriel enter. The door opened, and on the other side was a large dark room with a single coffin inside. As soon as Gabriel stepped into the room, the lid of the coffin burst off and a pillar made of a red blood-like substance shot out of the coffin into the air. Gabriel calmly watched as the blood pillar morphed into CountMyotismon's bestial form. After a moment, the vampire lord changed into his regular Digimon form.

"Thank you for not trying to rip me to shreds." Gabriel told him.

"Don't thank me just yet." CountMyotismon replied.

"I apologize for what happened in that battle." Gabriel told him. "I failed to anticipate that one of the Tamers would have one of the powers of Yggdrasill, the power of DigiXros. Just as I failed to anticipate the betrayal of one of my soldiers."

"That was a miscalculation on my part as well." CountMyotismon admitted. "It seems that your former soldier's relationship with little Suzie was stronger than I thought."

"In any case, it seems we'll now have to use different methods to eliminate the Tamers now that Ms. O-Hara has been captured and Mr. Flag is no longer in the proper mental state to fight." Gabriel continued. "We cannot take the chance of them doing something to threaten my plan."

"And just what is this plan of yours?" CountMyotismon asked. "If I'm going to keep working with, you're going to have to tell me."

"Very well." Gabriel agreed. "Do you know what the DigiMemories are?"

"I'm guessing you're going to tell me." CountMyotismon answered.

"The DigiMemories are fragments of data that contain the digital genetic codes for every type of Digimon in existence." Gabriel explained. "I've been collecting these fragments for the past few decades. Using this organization and other resources, I've already collected five of the eight DigiMemories. Once all of them are brought together, I shall use them to create a being with powers even stronger than Yggdrasill's."

"I see. Interesting." CountMyotismon replied. "I'm guessing you plan to use this being you're trying to create to gain control of both human and Digital worlds."

"Alright then. I'll keep working for you for awhile longer." CountMyotismon finally agreed. "But know that if something like this happens again, I won't hesitate to slaughter you."

"Of that, I have no doubt." Gabriel replied.

* * *

Very slowly, Alex began to wake up after an uncertain amount of time. She hadn't even realized she that she had fallen asleep. Before she even opened her eyes, Alex's nose was hit by a familiar scent. It was the scent of salt air and dead fish.

"Alex, wake up!" Kotemon spoke, causing Alex to finally open her eyes.

Upon opening her eyes, Alex gasped and quickly got to her feet. She found that she was on a grey beach with Kotemon under a dreary grey twilight sky. Expanding outward before her was a seemingly endless sea of black water. Alex was on the beach from her nightmares, only this time it was real.

"Kotemon… how did we get here?" a terrified Alex asked.

"I was just wondering the same thing myself." Kotemon answered. "The last thing I remember is falling asleep in our cell."

Suddenly the two of the heard a sound that sent chills down Alex's spine. It was the croaking call of those horrible fish-frog things that had plagued Alex in her dreams. They sounded far away, but there was a very good chance that the creatures would be upon them in a matter of minutes.

"Kotemon, we have to run!" Alex told him.

"Huh? Why Alex?" Kotemon asked.

"RUN!" Alex shouted before running off down the street.

Kotemon stopped asking questions and ran after Alex as fast as his legs could carry him. As they ran, both of them began to hear more croaking sounds in the distance.

* * *

Suzie had been sitting in the living room of her apartment starting at the same blank page of her notebook for about two hours. Doing her homework was proving to be an impossible task. Alex had been on Suzie's mind all day. She couldn't help but wonder what Yamaki was going to have done with her, or if she was ever going to see Alex again.

The door to the apartment opened and Suzie saw Janyu walk in. A very solemn expression was on his face as he sat his bag in its usual place by the door.

"Hi dad." Suzie greeted. "Have a good day at work?"

Janyu walked into the living room and stood before her. "Suzie… I think there's something you should know. We don't know how, but Alex and her Digimon have vanished."

"Vanished? What do you mean?" Suzie asked.

"We don't know how, but sometime during the night they somehow got out of their cell and disappeared." Janyu answered. "Yamaki thinks that SAINT may have had something to do with their escape. I just thought you should know."

Suzie couldn't believe what she had just heard. She didn't know why, but she suddenly had a very terrible feeling that she'd never see Alex again.

* * *

Please review and let me know what you think.


	10. Third Home by the Sea

**Author's Note:** I recently finished the _Yu-Gi-Oh!/Sword Art Online_ crossover I had been working on for the last few months, so now I should be able to focus more on this story. Anyway, the title of this chapter is a reference to the very first Digimon fanfic that I ever did in this series, _Digimon: Home by the Sea_. The title for that story came from a song by Genesis with the same name. That song served as one of the major inspirations for that tale. There was also another piece of music by Genesis called _Second Home by the Sea_, which was an instrumental piece used to extend the original song. I also used the title of _Second Home by the Sea_ as a chapter title in my first Digimon story as sort of a reference to something in that chapter. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself here.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 10: Third Home by the Sea

Three days had gone by since Alex had simply vanished with Kotemon, and it was proving to be another typical day for Suzie. At the moment she was at a table in the cafeteria with Miki and Aki. The two of them were talking about something, though Suzie hadn't been listening to a word they were saying. She simply didn't care. For those three days Suzie had simply been going through the motions of her day-to-day life, but there was no actual motivation behind anything she did. It was all because Alex was no longer there.

One of the sad truths in life is that people don't realize how much they appreciate something until it's gone. And many times a person doesn't realize how much they truly care about someone until the person they care about is no longer in their life. Before, Suzie had not been entirely sure about her feelings for Alex. But now that it seemed like she would probably never see Alex again, Suzie finally knew for certain that she was in love with her. Her heart felt like it had been shattered into a million pieces ever since she head the news the tomboyish redhead had vanished.

"So Suzie, what do you think?" Miki asked.

"Huh?" Suzie responded. "Oh, sorry. What were you guys talking about again?"

"Are you okay?" Aki asked. "You've been kinda out of it for days."

"I'm fine, really." Suzie told them before rising from her seat. "I think I'm gonna head back to the classroom."

"Huh? But you've hardly touched your food." Miki observed.

"It's fine. I'm not very hungry right now." Suzie told them as she walked off. As Suzie left, Miki and Aki exchanged worried looks with one another.

The school day continued on like it normally did. When it was over, Suzie met up with Lopmon and headed off. But instead of going home, Suzie took a bus that went to a certain beach near the city. She had been coming to that beach with Lopmon ever since Alex had vanished. Each afternoon, Suzie would sit there on that beach until the next bus came and look out over the ocean. Suzie didn't understand why she had been coming to that beach. It was as if she was trying to find something out over the ocean, like she was looking out over the sea's endless horizon hoping to spot something out over the waves.

"Suzie?" a familiar voice spoke from behind. Suzie turned her head to see Jeri standing there with Calumon perched on her shoulder. "I was hoping I might find you here."

"How'd you know I'd be here?" Suzie asked.

"Your dad told me this morning that you've been coming to this beach lately." Jeri explained. "Mind if we talked?"

"I guess not." Suzie agreed.

"Calumon, we should probably give these two some privacy." Lopmon suggested.

"Okay." Calumon agreed.

With that, the two Digimon walked a little ways down the beach to give the two girls some privacy. Jeri sat down on the beach next to Suzie.

"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Suzie asked.

"Well… it's about what CountMyotismon bragged about a few days ago before Crusadermon attacked him." Jeri explained. "You know, about…"

"About how he got me into bed while he was in your body?" Suzie deduced.

"Yeah, that…" Jeri replied. "Do you… remember anything about what he was talking about?"

"Actually, for awhile since the Crimson Plague incident I was having these really hot sex dreams about you." Suzie admitted. "I guess they were all dreams based on what happened that time."

"I see…" Jeri replied with a sad expression. "You know… there's been more than a few times when I've wondered about the horrible things that monster did while he was using my body. But I never thought he'd made us do something like that for his own sick pleasure."

"You know what? I don't think that psycho vampire really made me do something that I didn't want to do." Suzie told her.

"What do you mean?" Jeri asked.

"I mean that monster probably saw something in me that I didn't even know about myself at the time." Suzie explained. "It's only recently that I've discovered what that thing is. I'm into girls, Jeri."

"Oh… I see." A somewhat surprised Jeri replied.

"You and Lopmon are the only people I've told about this." Suzie informed her. "But I guess I don't really give a crap about who knows right now. Now that Alex is gone, I don't really give a crap about anything."

"You're in love with her, aren't you?" Jeri realized.

"Maybe not at first." Suzie replied as she got to her feet. "I was drawn to her though. And as I spent more time around her, my feelings for her began to grow. Then when I found out that Alex was Crusadermon's partner and learned about her past, I fell in love with her even more. And now that she's gone… I'm just completely lost without her."

Jeri got to her feet and put her hand on Suzie's shoulder. "I wish there was something I could do for you. I'm sorry that things turned out this way."

"All I want is for Alex to come back." Suzie tearfully told her.

"I know you do." Jeri replied. "Look, why don't I give you a ride home? I'm sure it'd be better than waiting for the bus."

"Yeah… okay." Suzie agreed. And with that, they got Lopmon and Calumon and went to Jeri's car.

* * *

_Suzie walked along a dismal beach under a grey twilight sky. She had on a pink dress that looked like it was from the 1800s along with a bonnet and a pair of brown gloves. In her right hand she carried a large suitcase. Suzie could not recall how she had gotten to that beach or why she was even there, but she did know that she was heading for somewhere. After a few moments she spotted the place she was headed to. It was a building that looked like a dilapidated bed and breakfast. From the looks of the place, Suzie would've expected it to be abandoned. Yet there were clearly signs of people staying at the place._

_Outside of the old hotel were other people wearing formal-looking outfits from the 1800s. Suzie assumed that they were other guests that were staying at the old inn. What was really strange though was that Suzie couldn't make out their faces. Within a few more moments, Suzie had walked into the main lobby of the inn. At the front desk, a faceless attendant had Suzie sign her name in the register and gave her a room key. Afterwards a faceless bellhop arrived and escorted her to a room on the second floor._

_The room that Suzie had been given was not a very good-looking room. The wallpaper on the walls was faded and peeling, and the only pieces of furniture there was a bed with sheets that looked like they hadn't been changed in years and an old nightstand with a rusty lamp. In the far wall to her right was a large window with old moth-eaten drapes that had a view of the beach and that black sea. She walked over to the window to get a better look at the view. Down on the beach below Suzie saw several faceless people gathered around what looked like a wooden stake._

_Suzie quickly noticed that there was a young woman tied to the stake. She had long red hair and wore a simple wooden dress. It wasn't long before Suzie realized that the young woman tied to the stake was Alex. She suddenly had an awful feeling about what was going on down on that beach. Why would Alex be tied to a stake? And what were all those people doing down there. In one horrific moment, Suzie got her answer as the people down on the beach began to transform. The sheer speed of the change caused their clothes to rip off their bodies, and in moments they had become shadowy fish-frog creatures with glassy sunken eyes. Suzie watched in absolute horror as the creatures enveloped Alex. As the creatures consumed her, Suzie could see a stream of blood streaming from the bottom of the stake._

Suzie shot up in bed as a scream escaped her lips. It took her a moment as she caught her breath to realize that what she had just seen was only a dream, yet it felt so real. And it filled her with a sense of dread and terror unlike anything that she had ever felt before.

Lopmon had already woken up and had hopped onto the foot of Suzie's bed. "Suzie, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Lopmon… I'm afraid that something terrible is happening to Alex." Suzie replied as tears began to stream down her face.

* * *

It was the end of another school day, and for the whole day the nightmare that Suzie experienced the night before had been on her mind. She couldn't shake the feeling that the nightmare meant that something unspeakable might have happened to Alex. Suzie had kept trying to tell herself that it had been nothing more than a simple nightmare brought on by the stress of losing Alex. Yet her heart was telling her that there was far more to it than that. That afternoon as Suzie left the school with Lopmon, she saw Henry waiting for her with Terriermon. Under other circumstances, Suzie might've been glad to see Henry. But ever since the day Alex had been taken into custody by Hypnos, Henry had become one of the last people she wanted to deal with.

"Hi Suzie." Henry greeted. "How're you doing?"

"What do you want, Henry?" Suzie asked in a displeased tone.

"Dad mentioned to me that you've been pretty depressed these last few days." Henry explained. "I came by to see if there was anything I could do to help."

"There's nothing you or anyone can do to help." Suzie told him. "So I'd appreciate it if you'd just leave me alone."

"C'mon Suzie, talk to me." Henry responded. "Just what is this all about? Is this about that Alex girl?"

"And what if it is?" Suzie asked.

"Suzie… that girl was never your friend." Henry told her.

"You don't know her the way I do!" Suzie argued.

"Whatever Alex told you about herself was probably just one big lie to get close to you." Henry calmly insisted. "It was probably all just part of whatever mission she was on."

"Shows how much you know!" Suzie shot back.

"Dammit, when are you going to grow up and get some common sense?" Henry asked, losing a bit of his cool. "That girl was using you!"

With that, Suzie snapped and slapped Henry in the face. "That's it! I've had enough of you and everyone else treating me like I'm some little kid! I'm seventeen years old, Henry! When the hell are you and the others going to see that?"

Before Henry could respond, Suzie ran off as fast as her legs could carry her. Lopmon hung onto her with all his might to avoid falling off. Within a few moments, Suzie made it to the nearby bus stop and got on as soon as the bus arrived. She and Lopmon rode it until it took them to the beach. Suzie had been planning to go back to the beach anyway for another one of her odd vigils, but now she needed to get there so she could get away from Henry and everyone else for at least a little while. By the time she and Lopmon finally got there, Suzie spent a few moments just looking out over the waves.

"Suzie, you okay?" a concerned Lopmon asked. Suzie said nothing. "Do you want to talk about what happened with Henry?"

Again Suzie said nothing, but instead glanced off to her right. When she did, she saw something familiar in the distance further down the beach. It looked to be some sort of building. Suzie began walking towards the building to get a closer look and find out what it was. As she walked, Lopmon tried asking Suzie where she was headed, but each time she remained silent. She was too focused on getting to that building. It wasn't long before Suzie was standing a just a few feet from the structure that had lured her.

Much to Suzie's surprise, the building in question was the dilapidated inn from her recent nightmare. Above the door was an old sign with faded letters that read, _Home by the Sea Inn_.

"Suzie, what is it?" Lopmon asked up noticing Suzie's reaction to the abandoned inn.

"This… this is the old hotel from my nightmare." Suzie answered. "The one where I saw Alex get…" She couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence.

"Maybe we should go." Lopmon suggested.

"No… no, I want to stay here for a bit." Suzie told him. "Don't ask me to explain why."

"Well… okay." Lopmon agreed. "But I don't think it's a good idea for us to stay here too long."

With that, Suzie walked up to the abandoned building with Lopmon. Rather than go in, Suzie leaned back against the wall by the door and slid so that she was sitting down. She closed her eyes and took in the scent of the place. Everything about it smelled almost exactly the same as it did in her nightmare. The smell of decaying wood and the salt of air was practically identical with the exception of a few minor details. She felt almost like she had walked back into that nightmare.

"…You okay?" Lopmon asked Suzie again after a few moments.

"This may sound crazy… but being here makes me feel like I'm close to where Alex is." Suzie admitted. "I really wish we were at that place."

"I wish we were too." Lopmon agreed. "If only to see you smile again. I don't like seeing you like this at all."

Suzie said nothing and simply closed her eyes again. She tried imagining that she actually was at the place where Alex was. She started telling herself that Alex was perhaps inside the old inn or somewhere down on the beach. As time went by and Suzie kept imagining these things, she suddenly noticed that another odor had begun to mingle with the smell of salt air. It was the scent of dead fish.

Upon noticing this scent, Suzie opened her eyes and saw that she was on a much different beach than before. It was a dismal beach along a pitch-black ocean under a grey twilight sky, the exact same beach from her nightmare.

"Lopmon!" Suzie called as she sprung to her feet.

The rabbit Digimon opened his eyes to discover the change in scenery. "What the… where are we?"

"This is the same beach from my dream." Suzie explained.

"How the heck did we get here?" Lopmon wondered.

"I don' know, but… I think Alex is close." Suzie answered. "I can feel it."

"Well where is she?" Lopmon asked.

"She's in this hotel." Suzie replied. "Let's go!"

With that, Suzie and Lopmon entered the abandoned inn. As they dashed inside, Suzie couldn't help but feel like they were being watched.

* * *

**Author's Note:** So the title of this chapter is also meant to reference that there are three Home by the Sea Inns within the universe of this fan fiction series. There's the one that exists at the Dark Ocean, the one that exists in the human world of the Digimon Adventure universe, and this new one that exists in the human world of the Tamers'. Anyway, to try and get the right feel for this chapter, I went back and read _Digimon: Home by the Sea_. Maybe this means I have kind of a big ego, but I really do like going back and reading my old work sometimes.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	11. Beast of Sin

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 11: Beast of Sin

Suzie walked as cautiously as she could up the stairs of the old abandoned inn, being very careful not to make a single sound. Though it seemed that the rotting old building was completely abandoned, Suzie couldn't help but think that there were other things living in that place, things that were far from human. And if she were to alert those things to her presence, her life and Lopmon's would most likely be in danger. Suzie tried not to dwell too much on what creatures might be hiding in that loathsome inn and focused on finding Alex. After finally making it up the stairs of the inn, Suzie began her search of the inn's upper floor.

As Suzie and Lopmon walked down the halls of the inn, they tried all the doors of the rooms to find them locked tight. Eventually the two came upon a room that had the door broken off its hinges. Suzie walked into the room to investigate. There was no sign of Alex, but she and Lopmon quickly found that the massive hole in the wall where the room's large window would've been.

"I wonder what happened here?" Lopmon quietly spoke. "Do you think that Alex was being held here and busted out?"

"No… Alex is still here somewhere. I'm sure of it." Suzie whispered back. "Let's keep looking."

The two of them left the room and quietly resumed their search. After trying several more room doors, Suzie came upon one and the end of the hall that gave her a sort of warm familiar feeling. She tried the door, only to find it locked like most of the others. Yet she was certain that she had found where Alex was.

"Lopmon, can you break down the door?" Suzie asked.

"I think so, but I'm bound to make some noise if I do." Lopmon answered.

"We'll just have to take the risk." Suzie decided. "Do it."

Lopmon hopped off of Suzie's shoulder to the ground and began spinning like a top. As he spun, he created a small twister of pink air that broke the old door off its hinges. Suzie and Lopmon quickly went into the room only for a small creature to leap at them with what looked like a flaming sword. The two quickly managed to avoid the attack and found that the thing that tried to strike them was Kotemon.

Kotemon quickly noticed his error. "Oh! Ms. Suzie and Lopmon. I'm terribly sorry about almost attacking you. I thought you were the creatures that live in this place, or perhaps something much worse."

"How did you end up here?" Lopmon asked.

"Well, Alex and I had fallen asleep in our cell, and then when we woke up we were suddenly on that beach outside." Kotemon explained. "Soon after we arrived, the creatures that live here attacked us, knocked us out, and locked us up in this room. Alex and I would've tried to escape, but we're outnumbered. Plus Alex hasn't been doing well since we got here."

"Where is Alex?" Suzie asked.

"She's hiding in the closest thing this room has to a bathroom." Kotemon answered. "You'll find her in the tub. And I have to say, I've never seen her this frightened before."

"You guys stay out here and stand guard." Suzie told the two Digimon. "I'll go in and get Alex."

Suzie entered the room's small bathroom and quickly spotted an old bathtub with a closed shower curtain. She went over and opened the curtain to find Alex sitting in the tub with her knees to her chest. Alex flinched and cried out a bit when the shower curtain opened. Suzie had never seen Alex looked so frightened before. Before, Alex was always so calm and confident, like she could take on just about anything. Now she had been reduced to a scared little girl. It broke Suzie's heart to see Alex like that.

"Alex, it's okay." Suzie told her. "It's me."

Alex blinked a bit as she slowly realized who was speaking to her. "…Suzie?"

"That's right." Suzie confirmed as she held out her hand. "C'mon, I'm getting you out of here."

After a moment of hesitation, Alex took Suzie's hand and got out of the bathtub. The two of them went back out to the main room where Lopmon and Kotemon were still waiting.

"Okay, we need to get out of here." Suzie told them.

"That's not going to be easy." Kotemon told her. "Those creatures that live here are probably going to be coming after us pretty soon."

"Can't you and Alex biomerge into Crusadermon?" Lopmon asked.

"Alex's D-Arc is still busted." The reptile Digimon answered. "And even if it wasn't, Alex is in no shape to try biomerging right now."

"Then we better get out of here quick." Suzie decided.

Lopmon and Kotemon led the way out of the room and back down to the lobby. The four of them didn't bother trying to keep silent going down the stairs, as they were sure the point was moot. They got to the front door of the inn to find one of the shadowy fish-frog creatures of that wretched ocean standing in their way. Kotemon charged forward as his bamboo sword began to catch fire again. The little kendo Digimon jumped up and struck the creature on the head, knocking it to the ground.

Suzie and the others made it past the fallen creature and headed out onto the beach as fast as their legs could carry them. But as they got further away from that decaying inn of the damned, ten more of the fish-frog creatures suddenly emerged from the dark water of the ocean. The group tried to turn and run, only to find that eleven more of the creatures had gotten behind them. They were completely surrounded. Alex cowered behind Suzie as the creatures closed in around them. Kotemon readied himself to swing his bamboo sword, but it was in vein. There were far too many of the creatures for him to take on by himself.

"What are all of you?" Suzie asked the creatures, not knowing if they could speak any human language. "What do you want?"

"We want the maiden you took from the old prison house." One of the loathsome creatures spoke. "She is to be sacrificed for our sacred ritual. Her blood may revive our fallen undersea god who was slain by the foul Child of Hope."

"We should take the other girl as well." Another of the creatures suggested to its brethren. "She is strong. With her, we may be able to produce some powerful offspring."

Suzie did not at all like the sound of the one creature's suggestion. As the things continued to advance, they suddenly froze when a loud noise that sounded like a demonic shriek rang through the air. The fish-frog creatures quickly ran back into the ocean to hide beneath the waves.

"What the heck was that?" Suzie wondered.

"I don't know. But at least it scared off those creatures." Kotemon pointed out.

"Yeah, but… I get the feeling that things are about to get a whole lot worse." Lopmon told them.

Lopmon suspicions were confirmed when the ground began to shake with the sound of something immense coming their way. From around the corner of a large rock-face on the beach emerged a massive demonic-looking creature that was mostly black in color. It had seven legs with red claws that were joined at the top by something that could be called a torso. Stabbed into the knee of each leg was a sword with a crest made of light above the handle. At the top of the creature was a purple head with a pair of slender black horns, a wide mouth full of fangs, and a single green reptilian eye.

Suzie got out her D-Arc to find out what they were dealing with. "Ogudomon, a Mega-level Digimon. It's listed as a Super Demon Lord."

"I don't think I like the sound of that." Kotemon spoke.

As the beast lumbered closer, Suzie and the others could see more of its features. On its underside was another large mouth lined with small fangs. Surrounding the second mouth were seven red eyes.

"We gotta get out of here!" Kotemon told them.

"And go where?" Lopmon asked. "There aren't really many places to hide around here! And I'm not sure we can outrun that thing!"

Alex slumped down to her knees with a defeated expression. "Suzie, you go on ahead and leave me here. I'll let that thing devour me to buy you and the other some time."

"What? Alex, I'm not going to leave you!" Suzie told her. "Not after I've come all this way for you!"

"Forget about me." Alex requested. "I deserve to die after what I did during that battle. Besides, I couldn't live with myself if you were killed because of me. Just do me a favor and look after Kotemon."

"Dammit, I'm not leaving you!" Suzie insisted. "Ever since we met, you've protected me from harm! Well now it's my turn to protect you! And I'm going to do that even if it means giving up my own life!"

Suddenly Suzie began to glow with a pink aura and her D-Arc began to beep. At the same time, Lopmon suddenly began glowing with a brilliant pink light and rose into the air. The intensity of the light made Ogudomon growl and turn its head away.

"Lopmon warp digivolve to… Cherubimon!" Lopmon called out as he transformed, his voice changing with the utterance of his other name.

The light emanating from Lopmon faded a bit to reveal the rabbit Digimon in a new form. He was much larger and still rabbit-like. His body had become light pink and white and his arms had become much longer with well-developed hands. Expanding out around his neck was the sort of collar one might find on a jester or a clown. The shape of his long ears had become like feathered wings, and around the base of each ear was a golden ring.

"Lopmon just evolved into a Mega-level Digimon!" Kotemon observed. "We might just have a chance!"

Cherubimon hovered up into the air before Ogudomon and began to grow in size until he was roughly just as big as the demon beast. The divine bunny raised his right arm and a spear made of lighting appeared in his hand. Cherubimon threw the spear at Ogudomon, causing the demon to roar in pain and stumble back slightly.

"I'm through with just standing on the sidelines." Suzie declared as she pulled out a modify card. "Digi-Modify! Angewomon card, activate!"

Appearing to hover in the air was the ghostly image an angelic woman with long blonde hair and eight white-feathered wings. A greyish-black helmet with small white-feathered wings on the sides covered the top half of her face. The ghostly angel flew up and entered Cherubimon's back.

Cherubimon raised both his arms forward. "Holy Air!"

A pink mist began to hang over the area and Ogudomon roared in pain as bolts of blue electricity began to shock him. At the same time, a ball of white light flew out of Kotemon's sword and went into Cherubimon's chest.

"Storm of Judgment!" Cherubimon called out in an echoing voice.

Several bolts of lighting began to rain down from the sky and started striking Ogudomon repeatedly. The demon beast cried out in pain and began to stumble back further. When the lighting storm ended, Cherubimon began to repeatedly throw more spears of lightning at the demon. With one loud cry, the holy rabbit threw one final spear in the creature's face. That final strike created a small explosion that shrouded Ogudomon in smoke.

Suddenly a beam of light pierced through the grey twilight sky above. Before the smoke of the explosion could clear, Cherubimon turned away from Ogudomon and scooped Suzie, Alex, and Kotemon into his hands.

"What are you doing?" Suzie asked.

"I don't know how, but that battle has created a way out for us." Cherubimon quickly explained as he began to fly towards the light. "I'm not sure if I defeated Ogudomon, but I'm not sticking around to find out. The most important thing right now is getting you out of here."

Cherubimon continued to fly towards the light in the sky, getting further and further from the wretched beach below. As they got closer, the light continued to get brighter until it got to the point where Suzie couldn't see anything. By the time they began to pass through that portal in the sky, Suzie blacked out.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Apologies for the rather short chapter. I didn't expect to wrap this part of the story up so quickly. By the way, the room with the broken wall in it near the start of this chapter was the room that Kari was imprisoned in during Home by the Sea. I had actually forgotten that a certain pair of characters had blown that wall open in that story. In won't say anything more on that, because I don't want to spoil Home by the Sea for those who may not have read it yet.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	12. On Another Shore

**Author's Note:** Just so everyone knows, it might be a good idea to read my other story, _Digimon: Child of Hope and Light_ before getting into this chapter. That is if anyone hasn't read it already. The reason is because some important characters from that story appear in this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 12: On Another Shore

Suzie awoke to the feeling of something poking her in the cheek. Opening her eyes, she found she was lying on her stomach on a wet sandy beach. But from the sunny sky above, she could tell that she wasn't on the beach at that miserable ocean. Standing in front of her was two small Digimon. The first was a small yellow t-rex-like creature with green eyes and well-developed arms. On each of its wrists it had red leather crisscrossing straps. Suzie assumed that it was the little dinosaur's claws that had been poking her in the cheek. The other Digimon was a blue and white bipedal dog with a red headband and a pair of red boxing gloves.

"See Agu? I told you they were alive." The blue dog told the little dinosaur.

"Well the girl is, I guess." The dinosaur known as Agu replied. "But what about the others, Gao? They don't very lively to me."

"They're all still breathing, pea brain." The blue dog called Gao pointed out. "Besides, if those two Digimon were dead, they'd have turned into data by now."

"Oh yeah. Good point." Agu replied.

It took Suzie a moment to recall just how she had ended up in her current situation. Upon remembering Cherubimon's battle with Ogudomon and their escape into that light in the sky, Suzie instantly gasped and sat up. Lopmon and Kotemon were lying next to her unconscious on her left. Suzie quickly began to shake Lopmon in order to wake him up.

After a moment, Lopmon began to stir. "Suzie?"

"Lopmon, are you okay?" a concerned Suzie asked.

"I think so…" the rabbit Digimon replied. Upon noticing the two other Digimon there, Lopmon became much more alert.

"Hey. Take it easy there." Gao told Lopmon. "You're among friends."

"Well, unless you start to make trouble, that is." Agu added.

"An Agumon and a Gaomon?" Lopmon observed.

"Yeah, but you can just call us Agu and Gao." Agu replied.

After a moment, Suzie noticed how cold she was. Her clothes were completely soaked. Around this time, Kotemon finally woke up. It took Lopmon a moment to get the little kendo Digimon to stand down.

"How long have we been here?" Suzie wondered.

"We don't know." Gao answered. "We were just walking along the beach and suddenly found you guys."

"Hey Norn!" Agu called. "Come look at this!"

Suzie looked towards the direction where Agu was calling towards and saw someone further down the beach. The person heard Agu's voice and began to walk towards them. It was a girl who looked to be about twelve years old. She had long blonde hair and was wearing a sunhat with a powder-blue t-shirt and a mint-green skirt with pink sandals.

The girl who Suzie assumed to be Norn looked at her and the others. "Agu? Gao? Are these friends of yours?"

"We just found them lying on the beach." Gao answered. "We have no clue who they are."

"Um, hi there." Suzie greeted. "Are these two Digimon your partners or something?"

"That's right." Norn confirmed. "How do you do? My name is Norn Takaishi."

"I'm Suzie." The pinkette greeted back. "Suzie Wong. The two Digimon with me are Lopmon and Kotemon."

"Who's your other friend?" Norn asked, pointing at Alex.

Suzie looked to her right and saw Alex lying on her back unconscious only a foot away. She mentally kicked herself for forgetting about Alex. Immediately Suzie rushed over to Alex's side and began trying to shake her to wake her up. The redheaded tomboy was out cold, but at least she was breathing.

Norn went over and put her hand on Suzie's. "Don't worry. I'm sure your friend will be okay. How did you get here?"

"Well… it's kind of a long story." Suzie answered. "Before coming here, we were at another beach by this black ocean. It was really gloomy, and there were these things living there. I don't know if they were Digimon or what, but they were nasty."

"I see." Norn replied as her expression became serious. "So you were at the Dark Ocean before. How did you get there?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure." Suzie answered. "But I went there because I was trying to find Alex. She and Kotemon ended up there before Lopmon and I did. Wait, do you know something about that place?"

"The Dark Ocean is a shadow cast by the human and Digital Worlds." Norn explained. "Unfortunately, humans who have darkness within their hearts are sometimes pulled to that place."

"So… is there a chance that Alex might end up at that place again?" Suzie asked.

Norn simply looked Suzie in the eye. "You really care about this person, don't you?"

"Yeah… yeah, I care about her." Suzie answered as she tightly held Alex's hand. "I care about her more than I've ever cared about anyone else."

After a moment, Norn smiled. "Well then, I wouldn't worry about it. With someone like you around to banish the darkness from her heart, it's no longer possible for the Dark Ocean to call your friend back." She then noticed the broken D-Arc at Alex's side and picked it up. "Oh dear. What happened to this?"

"Well, that's another long story." Suzie answered.

Norn noticed the other D-Arc hanging from Suzie's belt. "You have a Digivice of the same design. Might I borrow it for a moment please?"

"Um… okay, sure." Suzie agreed before handing over her D-Arc.

Norn held both devices in the palm of each hand. Her brown eyes began to glow green and suddenly the two D-Arcs turned into gold wireframes and began to float above her hands. The D-Arcs split apart to reveal their individual mechanical components. Suzie and the others could see the parts of Alex's D-Arc that were damaged. As Norn examined the damaged components, she noticed a single computer chip that did not seem to be in Suzie's D-Arc. The damaged chip moved to float a few feet before Norn's face.

"What is it, Norn?" Gao asked.

"This component doesn't seem to belong in the damaged Digivice." Norn explained with a slight frown. "It seems like it was a modification made after the device was created, but I don't know who would have the ability to make such a modification."

"If it doesn't belong there, who cares?" Agu pointed out. "You should just toss it if it's not going to do any good."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Norn agreed. With that, the damaged chip dissolved into golden particles of light that floated away into the air.

The other damaged pieces of Alex's D-Arc began to dissolve away as well. Once they were all gone, parts of Suzie's D-Arc were duplicated and used to replace the broken parts of the other device. Once the repairs were complete, the two D-Arcs were put back together and resumed their original forms. Though Alex's D-Arc had turned pink with a white strap and screen frame. With the repairs complete, Norn's eyes returned to their original brown color.

"There you go. All fixed." Norn told Suize as she handed back the two devices.

"How the heck did you do that?" an amazed Kotemon asked.

"It was just a simple copy and paste." Norn answered. "Had I not had Ms. Suzie's Digivice, the repairs to the other one might've been impossible."

"What… who are you?" Suzie asked Norn.

Before Norn could answer, the calm sounds of the ocean were suddenly disturbed by a horrid demonic shriek. Suzie and the others looked to see a large black vortex had opened just a few feet away over the water. Lumbering out of the vortex was Ogudomon.

"What the hell? Lopmon, I thought you killed that thing!" Suzie exclaimed.

"I wasn't sure if I did or not!" Lopmon told her. "That last attack I used was only to by time for us to get away!"

"You can fight it again and finish it off, right?" Kotemon asked.

"Are you kidding? I'm way too wiped out to evolve back into Cherubimon right now!" Lopmon answered.

"Agu! Gao! Come to our aid!" Norn requested.

"You got it, Norn!" Agu replied before he and Gao became enveloped in pillars of orange and blue light.

"Agumon warp digivolve to… VictoryGreymon!" Agu called out as he transformed, his voice changing with the sound of his other name.

The orange light around Agu faded to reveal him in the form of a humanoid dragon with orange skin and a head covered in silver and black armor. Extending from the horn on the tip of his snout was a pair of golden blades that went back to form a pair of horns that formed a V shape. His torso was clad in silver and gold armor, and on his back were two golden panels or armor that resembled wings. With one of his muscular arms, he carried a massive sword with three blades.

"Gaomon warp digivolve to… ZeedGarurumon!" Gao called out as he transformed, his voice changing with the utterance of his other name.

The blue light that had enveloped Gao faded to reveal a large mechanical wolf with mostly blue armor. He had a green nose and claws, and on his back was a massive black cannon. At the end of his grey cable-like tail was another smaller cannon, and attached to the shoulders of his front legs were what looked like small missile launchers. Ogudomon growled at the two newly evolved Digimon.

"Whatever this thing is, it sure is ugly." Agu remarked.

"I'll blow the heck out of it, and then you finish it off with that sword of yours." Gao suggested. "Let's make this quick."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Agu agreed.

With that, Gao fired all the weapons on his body at the demon beast. As the smoke began to clear, Agu leapt high into the air and jumped in to stab Ogudomon with his mighty sword. The demon merely shook off Gao's attack and used one of his legs to bat Agu away, hurling the dragon warrior back onto the beach.

"Dang! This thing is tough!" Agu declared as he got back to his feet.

"This battle is going to take longer than I thought." Gao observed. "Norn, maybe you and the others should get back a bit."

Norn said nothing and walked a little closer to the water line. A sad look was on her face as she looked at Ogudomon.

"Hey Norn, what's wrong?" Agu asked.

"I see now. This Digimon was created from the data of the Seven Lords." Norn spoke. "It is the embodiment of their hatred towards all things. What a tragic existence it must lead."

"So what do we do about it?" Gao asked.

"There is only one thing that can be done, I'm afraid." Norn answered. "Agu, Gao, please lend me your power."

"You got it, Norn!" Agu replied.

"Whatever you say." Gao agreed.

Norn nodded and closed her eyes. "DigiXros!"

Norn's body suddenly began to glow with a blinding white light and change shape. Agu and Gao turned into balls of orange and blue light and shot up into the air. Within seconds, Norn's silhouette took the shape of a young woman in her early twenties. The ball of blue light that was Gao came down and struck Norn's right shoulder, changing into a piece of armor resembling ZeedGarurumon's head. Norn's right arm became covered in blue futuristic armor with a pair of black cannon barrels mounted on the forearm. Meanwhile, the orange ball of light that was Agu hit Norn's left shoulder and became a piece of armor that looked like VictoryGreymon's head. Her left arm became covered in futuristic gold armor with a retractable sword blade on the forearm.

The rest of Norn's body became covered in white and silver armor. On the front of the breastplate was a crest that looked like a star with a ray of light shining beneath it. Appearing on a piece of the armor that resembled a belt buckle was the Zero Unit symbol seen on Calumon's forehead. Covering Norn's head was a white helmet with a gold cross-like star on the forehead. On her face she had a golden faceplate and a blue transparent visor over her eyes. Her long blonde hair spilled out from underneath her helmet.

"DigiXros, complete." Norn spoke. "Norn X3!"

Ogudomon roared upon seeing Norn's transformation and breathed out a stream of green flames from the mouth on its underside. Norn quickly raised her left hand and a ray of orange light shot from her palm to form a large transparent orange shield in the shape of a V. The shield blocked Ogudomon's flames and vanished after the attack ended. Ten wings made of white light appeared on Norn's back and she rose into the air before Ogudomon.

"I'm am sorry that I must do this to you." Norn told Ogudomon as she raised her hands forward. "But you leave me no choice. Radiance Sanction!"

A beam of white light shot down from Norn's hands and struck Ogudomon. A large glowing version of the crest on Norn's chest armor appeared on the water beneath Ogudomon's feet and shot a massive pillar of white light into the sky. The demon beast roared in agony as its body broke down into particles of data that floated back through the dark vortex from whens it came. After a few moments, Ogudomon was no more. The pillar of light from Norn's attack vanished, as did the swirling black vortex.

With the battle at an end, Norn X3 floated back to the ground and split back into Norn, Agu, and Gao. Gao and Agu then reverted back to their Rookie forms. Suzie and the others were simply left awestruck by what they had just witnessed. Before Suzie could ask the little girl about what just happened, she saw another person quickly approaching with a Digimon. The person in question was a fairly young man with brown hair wearing a brown jacket with a grey shirt and blue jeans. The Digimon with him was another Agumon.

Upon seeing the young man, Suzie instantly recognized him as Tai Kamiya. And him being on the beach indicated a somewhat serious problem. She and most of the other Tamers had met Tai during and after the Crimson Plague incident, and before then most of them only knew Tai as a fictional character from a children's anime show. The fact that Tai and his Agumon were on that beach told Suzie that she was not back in her own world, but a parallel version of Earth.

"There you are, Norn!" Tai spoke. "What the heck just happened here?"

"Sorry if I worried you, uncle Tai." Norn replied. "I was fighting an incarnation of the Seven Lords' malice. But as you can see, everything's fine."

"Wait, the Seven Lords' what?" a confused Tai asked. "Look, never mind that! You know your mom would kill me if anything bad happened to you, right?"

"Uh, Tai? I think we might have a bigger problem." Agumon told him as he pointed at Suzie and the others.

Tai did a double take upon seeing the pinkette. "What the… Suzie Wong?"

"Uh, hi there." Suzie somewhat nervously greeted. "Long time no see, huh?"

Tai sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "And I was hoping this would be a normal day."

"Tai! Wait up!" another voice called from the direction Tai had come.

Walking towards the group was a young woman with shoulder-length red hair wearing a simply blue t-shirt with tan shorts. Despite her young appearance, the woman was walking with the aid of a wooden cane. After a few moments, the woman finally made it to Tai and the others.

"Rei, you didn't have to come all this way." Tai told the woman.

"I know, but I was worried about Norn too." Rei replied. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. But it looks like we may have a whole new problem." Tai answered before turning back to Suzie. "Now then, just how the heck did you and your friends get here?"

"I'll be happy to tell you everything, but can we get off this beach first?" Suzie requested. "Right now I'm really worried about Alex."

With that, Tai and his girlfriend, Rei Saiba left the beach with Suzie and the others in Rei's van. As it seemed for the moment that Alex was simply knocked out, they went to Rei's apartment. The apartment was fairly large and well furnished, indicating that Rei was at least pretty well off. Once they had gotten Alex into a spare room at the place, Suzie told Tai and Rei about everything from the time she had first met Alex to moment where she met Norn on the beach.

"Well, I guess this answers the question of where CountMyotismon's been for the past month." Tai spoke after hearing Suzie's entire tale. "Sorry to hear that he's been causing you guys trouble."

"That SAINT group sounds like pretty bad news too." Agumon added.

"I'd sort of like to know how we ended up here." Lopmon cut in.

"That Dark Ocean place can be a little unpredictable from my experience." Tai responded. "It took help from Izzy for us to get to your world and back the last time. That portal you guys came through could've taken you anywhere."

"You can get us back home though, right?" Suzie asked.

"Actually, that might be a problem." Tai revealed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Turns out if Ken keeps opening portals to the Dark Ocean, it could kill him. At least that's what my niece told us after the last time we fought CountMyotismon, right Norn?"

"I'm afraid so." Norn answered. "But don't worry, Ms. Suzie. I'm sure there's another way to return you and your friends to your own world."

"It'll probably take us awhile to figure out though." Tai added. "We might even have to ask Gennai."

"That's okay." Suzie told them. "Actually, I'm kinda tired of my own world right now after everything that's happened. Plus if we went back, Alex would probably get locked up again."

"Well, I guess for now we'll have to figure out where you and your friends will be staying." Tai observed.

"They can stay here at my place for tonight." Rei offered.

"Thanks, babe." Tai replied. "In the meantime, I better get Norn home and tell Izzy about all this. He's really going to have his work cut out for him this time."

* * *

The night had grown late, and Suzie had spent the whole evening sitting at Alex's bedside. She couldn't help but worry about whether or not Alex was going to wake up. Though the important thing was that Alex was at least safe. Of course even if Alex was safe and even if she did wake up soon, one dark thought hung over Suzie's mind. It was true that she was in love with Alex, but that didn't mean that Alex was in love with her. Yet even if that was the case, Suzie decided that she would tell Alex her true feeling for her. She had gone through too much not to.

At long last, Alex began to stir, much to Suzie's relief. The redhead groaned and slowly sat up, holding her forehead.

"Alex! Thank go you're awake." Suzie tearfully declared.

"Suzie?" a still groggy Alex responded. "Where…"

"It's okay. You're safe now." Suzie told her. "But as for where we are, that's kind of a long story."

"I'm not going anywhere." Alex pointed out.

With that, Suzie told Alex about how they had ended up on a parallel Earth after the initial battle with Ogudomon. Of course she had to fill in a few of the gaps of what really happened during the Crimson Plague incident for Alex to completely make sense of what was going on. Alex listened to every word and seemed to believe Suzie's story.

"Well, I guess this situation's better than the one I was in before." Alex observed. She then noticed that she and Suzie were the only ones in the room. "Where's Kotemon?"

"Oh, he's in the living room with Lopmon and Ms. Rei watching a movie." Sunzie answered. "Some romantic comedy, I think."

"At least the little guy's enjoying himself." Alex replied.

Suzie knew that it was probably going to be now or never to tell Alex how she felt about her. But before she did, there was one other question that she wanted to have answered.

"Alex… remember in that battle when you punched CountMyotismon before merging with Beelzemon?" Suzie asked, catching Alex off guard. "Why did you do that?"

"It… it wasn't something I had planned on." Alex answered. "But when that bastard started bragging about he had his way with you and what he was planning to do with you, I just snapped."

"Why? Why did you snap?" Suzie asked.

"Because… because I'm in love with you." Alex revealed. "I think I have been ever since I first saw you. There you were, this cute girl with pink hair who was about to get herself killed by some random monster, and all I wanted to do in that moment was protect you."

Suzie couldn't believe her ears. All this time she was almost certain that Alex didn't share her feelings when in reality, Alex had been in love with her from the very start.

"Of course you probably think I'm weird for what I just said." Alex continued. "Hell, someone like you probably has a boyfriend. I mean we're both girls, even though a lot of people mistake me for a guy at first. There's probably no way you'd…"

Suzie kissed Alex hard on the lips before she could finish her sentence. The redhead's eyes went wide and her cheeks turned a bright shade of red. After a few moments Suzie broke the kiss, leaving Alex confused about what had just happened.

"I… I'm in love with you too." Suzie revealed. "That's why I came all the way to that Dark Ocean to find you and get you back, because I can't picture my life without you anymore."

It took Alex a moment to fully process what Suzie had just told her. When she did, she pulled Suzie in and they became locked in another passionate kiss. This time their mouths opened and their tongues mingled to wrestle with one another. Tears of happiness were streaming down Alex's face. After a moment, the two of them finally had to break for air. As they gazed at one another, Suzie could see a need in Alex's eyes. Whether it was because of all the stress she had been through or something else, Suzie could tell that Alex wanted her.

Suzie felt a need as well and took off the white t-shirt that Rei had given her to wear. She then removed her bra, leaving her breasts completely exposed.

Alex's face turned a deeper shade of red as she looked away. "Suzie, we… we probably shouldn't. I mean, even if we feel the same way, it's probably too…"

Suzie took Alex's hand and placed it on her own chest. "I want you."

After a moment, Alex finally gave into her desires and removed her own shirt and bra, exposing her own chest. The two of them became locked in another deep kiss, and some time during the kiss Suzie suddenly found herself on her back on the bed. When they broke for air again, Alex got on her knees and removed Suzie's skirt and panties in one deft move. She then quickly removed her own jeans and undergarments. They were now both completely nude.

Suzie tilted her head and took a good look at Alex. It was the first time she was really seeing her as a woman. And Alex was indeed a beautiful woman. She was like some sort of athletic Roman goddess. Alex leaned in and started to suck on a particularly sensitive spot on Suzie's neck, causing the pink-haired girl to moan with pleasure. There was no going back for either of them now.

After a few long moments of kissing Suzie's neck, Alex pulled back and began massaging Suzie's breasts. Suzie was adrift in a sea of pleasure as Alex's hands did their work, gasping every now and than when the redhead would gently pinch her nipples.

"Oh god! Just do it to me already!" Suzie begged.

Alex smirked a bit and stopped kneading Suzie's breasts. She leaned back down and began to leave a trail of fiery kisses down the length of Suzie's stomach. Suzie's heart was threatening to pound out of her chest, as Alex slowly got closer to the area between her legs. This was the part in her dreams when she'd usually wake up. She prayed that wouldn't be the case this time though. It would be too cruel if everything that had just happened, Alex's confession of love and everything after was nothing more than a dream.

At long last Alex's tongue began to probe Suzie's moist womanhood, causing her to moan louder than before and arch her back. It was crystal clear that was what going on wasn't simply a dream. No dream could ever feel so good. Suzie's left hand clutched on hard to the bed sheets while her right held onto the back of Alex's head. She could feel herself getting close to the edge. Then after a blissful eternity, Suzie hit her climax. Her body shuddered as her orgasm hit her like a wave.

As Suzie came down from her high, Alex crawled back up and gave her a deep kiss on the lips. Afterwards she got back onto her knees and took hold of Suzie's left leg, lifting it so that it was straight up. Alex repositioned her waist so that their two openings were touching and began bucking her hips. Suzie was simply mesmerized by the sight of Alex's bouncing breasts. As they continued, their bodies became covered in sweat. Alex began to buck her hips faster as they got closer to the edge. Then at last in the same blissful moment they climaxed.

Alex collapsed next to Suzie on the bed. After catching her breath, she pulled the blanket over them both and the two of them cuddled closer together. Alex kissed Suzie on the forehead before drifting off to sleep. It wasn't long before Suzie drifted off to sleep as well, feeling the most content as she did in a very long time.

* * *

**Author's Note:** For those who don't know, Norn was originally a character from the _Digimon Next_ manga that I reinvented a bit for this series. Her full backstory in this continuity is in _Child of Hope and Light_. Anyway, there's a fairly big time skip in the next chapter, so stay tuned.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	13. The Sage of Death

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Chapter 13: The Sage of Death

A whole month had gone by in the Tamers' world since Suzie had vanished. The Tamers had searched everywhere they could for her, but it seemed that Suzie and Lopmon had simply vanished off the face of the earth. In the meantime, things in the city had actually been very peaceful. SAINT and CountMyotismon had not made a move since the battle at Tokyo Tower. Even so, the Tamers and Hypnos had remained on high alert, for they were certain that it would only be a matter of time before their enemies made a move.

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon as Takato waited in the usual boardroom at Hypnos HQ with Jeri, Parker, Rika, and Ryo. Yamaki had called them all in because he apparently had an important matter to discuss with them. The group assumed that it had something to do with SAINT. As they waited for Yamaki to show up, Henry walked into the room with Terriermon on his shoulder. A scowl was on his face as he sat down at the table.

"Hi Henry." Takato greeted. "How's it going?"

"About the same." Henry answered.

"Oh… so I guess that means that your dad's still not talking to you." Takato assumed.

"What do you think?" Henry bitterly replied. "Of course I don't blame him. I'm the reason that Suzie ran off in the first place."

Before the conversation could get any further, Yamaki walked in and sat at the head of the table. "Thank you all for coming."

"I assume you have a damn good reason for dragging us all in on a Saturday." Rika replied.

"Last night, some of my people captured a member of SAINT." Yamaki revealed. "After spending a little time interrogating him, this agent told us everything he knew about the organization, including the location of their base here in the city."

"So that means we know where they are now?" Takato realized.

"That's right." Yamaki confirmed. "This agent also told us about an important project that SAINT has been developing, Project NEO."

"What's Project NEO?" Ryo asked.

"We don't know." Yamaki answered. "From what this agent told us, the only person who truly seems to know is Gabriel Bishop himself."

"So what does this have to do with us?" Jeri asked.

"There's going to be an operation to raid SAINT's base and capture every operative there." Yamaki explained. "All of you are going with to help deal with any Tamers or Digimon that SAINT might have working in the building. That includes CountMyotismon. The primary objectives of this mission are to capture Gabriel Bishop and destroy Project NEO, whatever it might be."

"So when's this party getting started?" Parker asked.

"In about two hours." Yamaki answered as he got up from the table. "I suggest you all spend this time getting ready." With that, Yamaki left the room.

"Do you guys get the feeling that we've just been drafted?" Parker asked.

"I would feel better if we had been asked to volunteer for this." Takato admitted. "But the important thing right now is to take down SAINT and CountMyotismon before anyone else gets hurt."

* * *

It was a calm rainy afternoon as Alex and Suzie sat on a couch watching an old movie from the 1980s called _Against All Odds_. Since their arrival in the human world of the Tamers, the couple had been staying at the home of Matt Ishida and his wife, Sora. The decision that they stay there was based mainly on the fact that Matt and Sora were the only ones in the group that had an apartment with a spare room. During that time, the Digidestined had been trying to find a way to return the two young Tamers to their own world, but for the past month they had been hitting dead ends. There was no safe way they could get back to the Dark Ocean, and they could not find any other portals that could take them to different dimensions. It seemed like a solution might never be found.

In the meantime, Suzie and Alex's stay had been a very peaceful one. During that time Alex had recovered a good deal from the battle at Tokyo Tower and her stay at the Dark Ocean. Suzie had been happy to see that Alex was capable of smiling. Though she usually kept her usual aloof expression on around everyone else, with the exception of Norn. Suzie and Alex had also grown much closer as a couple during that time. At that moment as they sat on the couch, the two of them had forgotten about the movie they were watching and began making out on the couch. Lopmon and Kotemon were with Matt, Sora, and their two Digimon helping to put together the room for the child that the Digidestined couple was expecting.

Suzie had Alex pinned beneath her on the couch as they continued to explore one another's mouths. After a few minutes they were forced to break apart for air and they spent a few moments gazing lovingly at one another.

"I'm so lucky to have someone like you." Alex told Suzie. "I never thought anyone could love someone like me, especially after what I've done."

At this, Suzie sat up and looked at Alex with a somewhat surprised expression. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm a coldblooded killer." Alex sadly responded. "Or weren't you watching that battle back in our own world?"

Suzie's expression saddened and she leaned back down on top of Alex. "That wasn't your fault. That was an accident. None of us ever even expected that you'd fuse with Beelzemon like that."

"I know… but still…" Alex replied as she stroked Suzie's hair. "I can't help but feel responsible for what happened. I let my anger get the better of me and it cost someone their life."

"That Tamer you killed, Sandra. Was she a friend of yours?" Suzie asked.

"I couldn't stand to be in the same room with that shallow bitch." Alex admitted. "I didn't like Richard at all either, but I was forced to work with them. Even so… the fact that I didn't like Sandra doesn't make it okay that I killed her. And the horrible part of it is that at the time I didn't care."

"But you care now, right?" Suzie pointed out.

"Well, yeah. Of course I do." Alex confirmed.

"Then that means you're a really good person." Suzie told her. "Don't keep beating yourself over something that happened when you weren't in control of yourself. I know that you wouldn't have killed Sandra if you could help it. And I also know that you're not a monster, so don't look at yourself that way."

After a moment, a small smile returned to Alex's face. The two of them became locked in another passionate kiss for a few more minutes before they repositioned themselves so that Suzie was on Alex's lap. As Alex began to suck on Suzie's neck, her right hand made its way into the tight jean shorts that Suzie was wearing and began to stroke her moist womanhood, causing the pinkette to moan and arch her back. At the same time, Alex's left hand had made its way beneath Suzie's white t-shirt and began massaging her left breast. It was taking all of Suzie's willpower not to cry out at the top of her lungs. She knew that the apartment's other occupants were in the room just down the hall.

Before long, Alex had pushed two fingers into Suzie's entrance, making it even harder for her to keep quiet. Suzie ended up biting her lower lip in order to try and keep silent as the redhead's fingers pumped in and out of her. Even so, Suzie had started to care less and less about the possibility of Matt and Sora or anyone else walking in on them as she became lost in pleasure. Then at last, Suzie came to a hard climax, managing to raise her own hand to her mouth to try and cover any sounds she made.

After taking a moment to recover from her orgasm, Suzie turned to look at Alex. "Wanna go take a shower?"

"Good idea." Alex replied with a smirk.

With that, the couple took hands and went off towards the bathroom. As they left, the movie they had been watching continued to play on.

* * *

The air was thick with tension as Takato and the others prepared to raid SAINT headquarters. With them were whole squadrons of solider and police. After getting the okay from Yamaki over the radio, the soldiers went in first to take care of the bulk of personnel inside the base. The Tamers went in next as backup. Takato's team had been given the primary mission of finding Project NEO and destroying it.

The operation seemed to be going well. It helped that most of the agents inside the base didn't have weapons. They were mostly a bunch of scientists, analysts, and office workers. As a small war raged on around them, Takato and the others made their way through the corridors of the compound, heading for the lab that they were told would contain Project NEO. After a few minutes they finally came before a large metal door with an electric lock.

"So I guess we have to bust this thing down to get to the lab." Ryo observed.

"Allow me to handle this task." Wizardmon told them as he walked towards the door.

After taking a long look at the key panel of the lock, Wizardmon stepped back and waved his staff at it. A red fireball shot from the head of his staff and struck the key panel. The lock was destroyed and the door slid open. Takato and the others walked through to find a cavernous lab on the other side with pieces of scientific equipment scattered around. In the center of the massive chamber was a large device with a glowing tube in the center. Gabriel was standing in front of the device, turning as soon as he heard the Tamers coming towards him.

"It's him! The guy who's in charge of SAINT!" Takato observed.

"Welcome, Tamers." Gabriel greeted. "At last we meet face to face."

Before Takato or any of the other Tamers could respond, Guilmon began to growl at Gabriel. The pupils of the red dragon's eyes narrowed as he looked at the one-eyed man. Cyberdramon had begun to growl at Gabriel as well, and Renamon quickly tensed up. Terriermon and Wizardmon quickly tensed up as well, and Calumon seemed to become frightened as he looked at Gabriel.

"Hey! What's with you guys?" Takato asked upon noticing how the Digimon were acting.

"Takato… that man's a Digimon." Guilmon told him.

"What?" Takato exclaimed.

"Your friends are very perceptive." Gabriel remarked. "I suppose it's time I dropped this little disguise."

Suddenly Gabriel was enveloped in a massive pillar of crackling black energy. The energy faded after a moment to reveal a humanoid figure with darkened skin and long white hair. A thick black beard covered his chin, and three red horns grew from his head. The right half of his face was covered by a panel of what looked like bone, with something that looked like a red gem serving as his eye. He had an oversized right skeletal arm with a claw, and his lower right leg looked like a mass of bone with long red claws for the toes. His outfit consisted of white robes with a white cape that had a blue underside, and a piece of gold armor covering his chest.

"Who… what are you?" a stunned Takato asked.

"My true name has been lost to the Digimon of this modern era." The creature that was once Gabriel answered. "Those who do remember me know me only as The Sage of Death, but you may call me Bagramon."

"It… it can't be!" Wizardmon spoke as his eyes widened in horror.

"Wiz, you know about this guy?" Parker asked.

"There is a myth that is said to have taken place before the time of the Seven Lords." Wizardmon explained. "It tells of a high-ranking angel Digimon who ended up betraying Yggdrasill, only to be cast into darkness after having half of his body burned away. It is also said that this angel had powers that rivaled Lucemon's!"

"I see you're quite a knowledgeable wizard." Bagramon observed. "And I can tell you for a fact that every part of that myth you speak of is true."

"So all this time a Digimon has been the one behind SAINT?" Henry asked.

"That's right. But this organization's usefulness to me has now come to an end." Bagramon answered. "I'm more than capable of completing Project NEO on my own."

"Whatever this project of your is, we're not gonna let you finish it!" Takato declared.

"There is nothing you can do to stop me." Bagramon calmly told him.

Suddenly a swarm of black bats burst out of one of the air vents in the room and flew down in front of Bagramon. The bats quickly took the form of CountMyotismon.

"At last, I can finally have my revenge against you Tamers!" CountMyotismon declared.

"You guys may be strong, but it'll take more than two of you to take us down!" Parker told them.

"I have no intention of taking part in this battle." Bagramon responded. "But CountMyotismon will not be fighting you alone."

Before anyone could ask the fallen angel what he meant, the wall to the Tamers' right suddenly burst open. Lumbering in was a large and bulky creature with a humanoid build. Its body was covered in spiked diamond crystals, and on its back was a black cape with a red underside. On its large hands were gauntlets adorned with different colored gems. The creature walked over to stand next to CountMyotismon.

"Okay, this guy looks like he could be trouble." Parker remarked.

"Allow me to introduce you to one of my generals, Blastmon." Bargamon continued. "Very shortly you should be meeting my other general, Tactimon."

As if on cue, another figure burst down from the ceiling and landed next to CountMyotismon. He was a warrior clad in black samurai armor with a red flame pattern. On his back was a black cape with a red underside, and in his hand he carried a large sword with a chain binding it inside its scabbard.

"And now, Tamers… you shall parish." Bargamon declared.

"Let's go, guys!" Takato ordered.

The other nodded, and with that they biomerged with their Digimon. Jeri and Calumon took cover behind one of the pieces of lab equipment to watch. The fighters began to spread out, with Gallantmon and Dynasmon going after CountMyotismon while Sakuyamon and Justimon took on Tactimon. MegaGargomon meanwhile fired a barrage of missiles at Blastmon. The projectiles hit their target, but when the smoke cleared the crystal Digimon didn't have a scratch on his body.

"You call that an attack?" Blastmon spoke as he dusted himself off. "That was nothing! This is what you call an attack!"

Blastmon fired off a barrage of crystal shards at MegaGargomon. MegaGargomon raised his arms in an attempt to shield himself, only for most of the shards to pierce his metal frame and get stuck. Blastmon then curled up into a ball and began rolling towards the robot Digimon like a bolder. The diamond-covered Digimon rammed into MegaGargomon at high speed and knocked him back. MegaGargomon split back into Henry and Terriermon before hitting the ground.

Jeri and Calumon left their hiding place to run to the fallen Tamer's side. "Henry, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." Henry answered as he sat up. "He's a lot stronger than I expected."

"Well that was boring." Blastmon remarked as he scratched his chin. "Guess I should go help Tactimon with his opponents, not that the guy needs it. But it's better than just standing around."

In another corner of the lab, Justimon and Sakuyamon were struggling against Tactimon. The evil samurai general stuck Sakuyamon in the back with his sheathed sword and knocked her away. Justimon then charged in with the energy blade of his sword arm raised, only for Tactimon to quickly block his attack.

"This is rather disappointing." Tactimon remarked. "From everything Lord Bargamon and CountMyotismon told me, I was expecting you Tamers to be more of a challenge."

"This fight's far from over!" Justimon told him before managing to force him back a little.

Just as Sakuyamon was about to strike Tactimon from behind, Blastmon came over and grabbed her by the midsection, lifting her off the ground. Sakuyamon cried out in pain as Blastmon began to squeeze, alerting Justimon.

"Sakuyamon!" a concerned Justimon called as he ran over to help.

"Never turn your back on your opponent!" Tactimon told Justimon as he struck him in the back.

Justimon was hurled into the wall and split back into Ryo and Cyberdramon. Soon after, Blastmon threw Sakuyamon into the same wall, causing her to split back into Rika and Renamon.

"Are you two okay?" Ryo asked Rika and Renamon.

"We're fine." Rika assured him as she got on one knee holding her side. "Where the hell did these guys come from?"

"Jeez Tactimon, this battle really blows." Blastmon declared. "We spend years in the Digital World chasing down those DigiMemory things for Lord Bagramon, and when we finally get some real opponents after all this time they turn out to be a bunch of lightweights."

"I'm just as disappointed as you." Tactimon agreed. "The Tamer I just defeated is said to be the legendary figure who defeated the great ZeedMillenniummon ages ago. I was certain that he'd be a worthy opponent. To think that he fell before me so easily."

"So what do we do now?" Blastmon asked.

"We can end their lives later. For now, let's help CountMyotismon with his opponents." Tactimon decided.

"Good idea." Blastmon agreed as they began to walk off. "Hopefully those knights will put up more of a fight."

In another corner of the lab, Gallantmon and Dynasmon were still locked in battle with CountMyotismon. Gallantmon hit the vampire lord with a blast of energy from his shield, only for CountMyotismon to quickly regenerate from the attack. CountMyotismon then shocked both of the knights with bolts of red lightning from his hands. Gallantmon and Dynasmon both fell to one knee.

"It's pointless for both of you to keep fighting against me." CountMyotismon told them. "There's no way you can defeat me with my power."

"Oh yeah? Well we're just getting started!" Gallantmon declared.

Before Gallantmon could get up though, Tactimon moved in and struck him in the back with his sword. Gallantmon fell to his stomach and split back into Takato and Guilmon. Dynasmon tried to move in to help, only for Blastmon to come up from behind and strike him in the top of the head with his fist. Dynasmon fell to the ground face first and split back into Parker and Wizardmon.

"Thanks for the help." CountMyotismon told the two evil Digimon. "That battle was starting to become tiresome."

"You could've at least saved some of the action for us, fang face." A somewhat irritated Blastmon replied. "This whole fight's been just one big yawn."

"Indeed. Victory is much sweeter when one must go to great lengths to achieve it." Tactimon agreed. "I hardly see why I was called in to fight this battle."

"Enough." Bagramon interrupted. "It appears that I have indeed overestimated the Tamers somewhat. There's no longer any point to us remaining."

"Don't tell me you're going to let them live." CountMyotismon spoke.

"Of course not." Bagramon replied. "Tactimon, I leave disposing of the Tamers and this compound to you."

"With pleasure, my lord." Tactimon replied with a bow.

With that, Bagramon waved his skeletal hand and caused a swirling black vortex to appear. The device in the center of the lab vanish with a flash of red light, and Bagramon walked into the vortex with CountMyotismon and Blastmon following.

Tactimon reached the portal before turning back to face the Tamers. "And now as Lord Bagramon has ordered, I shall make this building your tomb!"

Tactimon struck the floor of the lab with his sword three times. The entire building began to shake as the dark samurai turned and walked into the portal. The portal closed large cracks in the ground began to form.

"We gotta get out of here!" Takato told the others.

"There's no time!" Ryo pointed out. "Well never make it!"

Suddenly Jeri's D-Arc began to beep and gave off a flash of light that enveloped the entire lab. The light faded and the Tamers and their Digimon found that they were outside the building. They watched as the secret headquarters of SAINT collapsed into a pile of rubble.

"Well, it looks like Jeri's mysterious D-Arc saved us." Rika observed.

"Yeah, but we got our asses handed to us." Parker pointed out. "Nobody's been able to clock me on the head like that since I was fourteen."

"I don't know how we're going to beat Bagramon's generals if we run into them again." Henry spoke.

"Well we better find a way soon." Takato decided. "Otherwise this world's toast."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Even before this story I had quite a debate with myself about possibly including Bagramon, Blastmon, and Tactimon in this series. But I decided to go ahead with it after reading the Xros Wars manga. Bagramon really is kind of an interesting villain. Incidentally, Bagramon, Blastmon, and Tactimon are considered Mega-level Digimon in this series. Also, the movie that Suzie and Alex were watching in one of the earlier scenes is a real movie. It launched one of Phil Collins' greatest hits.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	14. Special Announcement

We regretfully interrupt this story to bring you a very important message.

* * *

Special Announcement

To those who have been reading and following this story, I'm afraid I have some very bad news. I'm going to have to put this story on hiatus for a while. The main reason is because I've suffered a very personal loss. Or rather I may be about to. My cat, which I've had for about sixteen years, is quite sick and we're not sure if he's going to pull through at the moment. So I've pretty much lost any of the motivation I had left to work on this story, and I've kind of lost a lot of that drive already due to this thing not being the most popular thing I've ever written.

I know this kind of thing probably irritates some people. It's not cool to be reading a really good story only to come upon a page that has this message. But I felt that I needed to give those of you reading an explanation for why I suddenly decided to stop work on this tale. Ideally, this would just be an author's note at the end of a chapter, but I'm hardly close to having the next chapter done and at this point it's not going to get done anytime soon. So I deeply apologize for this. One day in the future I will replace this little announcement with an actual chapter, but for now this is all I can do.

I deeply apologize for this. Thank you all for reading up to this point.


End file.
